Standby Power

Most of us hardly realize the tiny LED diodes, which enlighten our rooms during night. However, standby power is not only about diods!

Why power is consumed in standby mode?
Obviously, LED diodes consume something, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Much more electricity is consumed by AC/DC converters (the black cube in the middle of cord), by circuits, which are prepared to receive signal from remote controller,

This can help you to identify the devices, which consume power. If there is LED, if there is working remote controller, and if there is converter, it consumes electricity.

How much do the devices consume in standby mode?
This varies, but few watts per hour. This may not sound as much, but when you imagine that if you use 1W for a 365 days, it represents consumption of 9kWh. Check with your electricity bills, but it is something like $1. If you have dozens of appliances, each of them consuming 3-10W in standby mode, your unnecessary expenses can reach several hundreds per year.

Nobody knows for sure, but standby power accounts for 5-10% of residential electricity use in most developed countries. Altogether, standby power use is roughly responsible for 1% of global CO2 emissions.

What can I do about it?
Producers are trying to reduce standby power requirements, but you can do something as well.

1. Identify big consumers. Our chart may help you, but the best way how to check is to use power usage meters. You can buy a cheap one online.

2. Turn off the devices. Naturally, you probably don't want to unplug each device every night, that would be crazy. But you can cluster the highest consumers and use switchable power strip. It costs few bucks.

The biggest standby energy consumer are set top boxes, TV sets, computers, and computer screens, which consume 15W-30W in standby mode.