Standby Power

Standby power, also called vampire power, vampire draw, phantom load, or leaking electricity ("phantom load" and "leaking electricity" are defined technical terms with other meanings, adopted for this different purpose), refers to the electric power consumed by electronic and electrical appliances while they are switched off (but are designed to draw some power) or in a standby mode. This only occurs because some devices claimed to be "switched off" on the electronic interface, but are in a different state from switching off from the plug, or disconnecting from the plug, which can solve the problem of standby power completely. In fact, switching off at the plug is effective enough, there is no need to disconnect all devices from the plug. Some such devices offer remote controls and digital clock features to the user, while other devices, such as power adapters for disconnected electronic devices, consume power without offering any features (sometimes called no-load power). All of the above examples, such as the remote control, digital clock functions and, in the case of adapters, no-load power, are switched off just by switching off at the plug. However, for some devices with built-in internal battery, such as the phone, the standby functions can be stopped by removing the battery instead.

In the past standby power was largely a non-issue for users, electricity providers, manufacturers, and government regulators. In the first decade of the twenty-first century awareness of the issue grew and it became an important consideration for all parties. Up to the middle of the decade, standby power was often several watts or even tens of watts per appliance. By 2010 regulations were in place in most developed countries restricting standby power of devices sold to one watt (and half that from 2013).