Natural Environment Blog

Most people assume that when they push the “Off” button on their TV or other electrical appliance, that it is actually turning the thing off. The reality is that, in most cases, the appliance will actually continue to use electricity even after it’s been switched off.

The vast majority of electrical appliances can’t actually be switched off completely without you pulling the plug out of the mains socket. These appliances churn through electricity all day, every day, for as long as you have the device plugged in to the mains.

Given the number of electrical devices that most households leave plugged into the wall, this can be a huge problem for the electricity bill and for the environment.

There’s even a name for it…

This phenomena is commonly referred to as “standby power” or “standby current”. Standby power is the power that is consumed when an electrical device is switched off or not performing it’s primary role. In some cases, a device will need to be in standby mode, but in most cases it doesn’t.

Various studies around the world have estimated that standby power accounts for between 5% and 13% of household energy consumption. That’s about the same energy required to run your fridge. That’s a lot of unnecessary power consumption!

Also, studies have estimated that standby power accounts for as much as 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of greenhouse gases that our electrical devices are producing these days is having an enormous impact on global warming. And global warming is having an enormous impact on our planet. The less electricity we consume, the better.

Why do we need Standby Power?

Some electrical devices have a “standby mode”, where it will continue to operate in a reduced capacity while it has been turned off. This is where standby power is required.

Examples of where standby power is required:

• Devices that need to maintain signal reception (eg, telephones, remote controls)
• Devices that need to monitor temperature (eg, refrigerator)
• Devices that need to power an internal clock
• Devices that need a continuous LCD display

In most cases though, electrical devices don’t require standby power. There’s no reason you would want this device to stay “on” when you’ve turned it “off”. These devices are simply using standby power through inefficient design. They are churning through electricity 24/7 for no good reason.

What’s being done about it?

Agencies around the world have recognized this problem with standby power and are beginning to do something about it.

For example, in 1999, the International Energy Agency (IEA) established a “one-watt plan”. The one-watt plan is a proposal that all participating countries develop energy policies that restrict standby power usage to no more than 1 watt per device by 2010.

Fortunately, technology advancements have improved the efficiently of electrical devices. Also, many devices could easily be redesigned to use less standby power.

What should I do about it?

The easiest thing you can do to reduce standby power consumption is pull the plug out.

Take a look at all your electrical appliances and determine whether any of them need to be in “standby mode” after you turn them off. For the ones that don’t, simply pull the plug out of the mains power when you’re finished with them. As well as helping the environment, this could cut your household electricity bill by 13%.

You could also purchase a power saving device such as Power Genie. Power Genie sits between your electrical devices and the mains power and ensures that when you turn your device “off” it really is “off”.

Tags: Climate Change, electricity, energy, Global Warming, greenhouse gas, standby power, Sustainability

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• 10 Easy Ways to Save Energy in Your Household

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 1:14 am and is filed under Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.