Standby Power - Magnitude

Magnitude

Standby power makes up a portion of homes' miscellaneous electric load, which also includes small appliances, security systems, and other small power draws. The U.S. Department of Energy said in 2008:

"Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These "phantom" loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance."

Standby power used by older devices can be as high as 10 to 15 watts per device, some appliances use no energy when off. A modern HD LCD television may use 1 W or less in standby mode, and sometimes more, depending on size and circuit design, during operation. Regulations coming into force in many countries following the One Watt Initiative restrict standby power of new equipment to not more than one watt from 2010, 0.5 watts from 2013.

Although the power needed for functions such as displays, indicators, and remote control functions is relatively small, the large number of such devices and their being continuously plugged in resulted in energy usage before the One Watt regulations of 8 to 22 percent of all appliance consumption in different countries, 32 to 87W, and around 10 percent of total residential consumption. In Britain in 2006 standby modes on electronic devices accounted for 8% of all British domestic power consumption. A similar study in France in 2000 found that standby power accounted for 7% of total residential consumption.

A report produced in 2004 for the California Energy Commission has a very large list of the standby and operational power consumed by a great many devices (typical examples, there is no general rule), down to a baby monitor and toothbrush charger.

Over a decade ago some electronics, such as Microwaves, CRT’s and VHS players used more standby power than appliances manufactured in the last 5 years. For a historical reference please see this article from the Economist.

In the US the average home used an average of 11,040 kWh of electricity per year in 2010. Each watt of power consumed by a device running continuously consumes about 9kWh (1W × 365.25 days/year × 24 hours/day) per year, a little less than one thousandth of the annual US household consumption. Unplugging a device constantly consuming standby power saves a yearly 9kWh for each watt of continuous consumption.

Continuous low power consumption is needed for some devices, such as security systems, fire alarms, and many digital video recorders on standby, to operate properly. Some such consumption, such as low power used by timers to switch off devices which would otherwise waste energy, can reduce total energy usage. The Reducing Consumption section below provides information on reducing standby power.