Appliances On Standby And Energy Usage

[pastafreak]

I know tv's should be unplugged to save energy( I keep forgetting), but what other appliances should be disconnected?
And how much energy do chargers...and charging of phones and tablets...use?

[naomi24]

I don't know - I leave televisions plugged in - but on seeing a bank of electric car chargers the other day I did wonder how much the drivers would be paying for their energy now.

[pastafreak]

Yes...as compared to over £100 to fill up a standard car with petrol.
Glad I don't drive.

[aelmpvw]

why should a television be unplugged if it's switched off?

[naomi24]

Does anyone here have an electric car I wonder? I'd be interested in the price comparison now.

[Buenchico]

A mobile phone charger typically draws about 0.25 watts of power when plugged in but not charging a phone. So it would need to be left plugged in for 4000 hours in order to use 1 kWh of energy. As the price of that amount of energy is currently capped at 28p, that works out at 0.007p per hour, which is equivalent to about 60p per year.

The energy consumption when actually charging a phone is a bit higher but not a lot. So leaving a phone charger permanently plugged in, while occasionally using it to actually charge a phone, probably costs about £1 per year.

It's still a good idea to unplug a charger that's not in use because of the slight risk of fire if anything shorts inside them. Similarly, the advice from fire brigades is that appliances should never be charged overnight - but I'd be prepared to bet that's exactly when most people do charge their phones!

[dustypuss]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/09/07/how-much-energy-does-your-iphone-and-other-devices-use-and-what-to-do-about-it/?sh=231ad1f82f70

[ToraToraTora]

aelmpvw: "why should a television be unplugged if it's switched off? " - they mean don't leave on standby which does use power.

[Buenchico]

>>> why should a television be unplugged if it's switched off?

Because 'switching off' many appliances these days, including TV sets, generally only places them into standby mode (which still consumes power), rather than actually disconnecting them from the mains. Inkjet printers often work in much the same way, as do many other modern appliances.

[William51]

Appliances do not have to be unplugged to save energy, they just have to be turned off on the wall plug. Even left on they do not waste much, my router is on all the time after my computer expert said it uses only pence worth of energy.

[pastafreak]

What about microwave ovens...should they be unplugged?
I always unplug chargers when not in use...though I feel like my phone needs constant charging lately.

[Buenchico]

>>> What about microwave ovens...should they be unplugged?

No.

>>> I feel like my phone needs constant charging lately

Then, assuming that you're not (say) watching loads of videos on it for hour after hour (which would explain the high power usage), it probably needs a new battery in it. They don't last forever!

[pastafreak]

A 3 year old phone?

[davebro]

//>>> I feel like my phone needs constant charging lately//

If it's an android smartphone you can down load the accubattery app which will monitor & report the state of your battery.

[Buenchico]

>>> A 3 year old phone?

Phone batteries typically last 2 or 3 years before their performance starts to noticeably degrade.

[Redhelen72]

Oh my my MIL is obsessed with unplugging everything at the moment!
That is all when and good until she phones us up complaining she cannot get sky to work! Or when she starts saying will it hurt the washing machine to move it everyday to turn it off?
When we visit - I think I have turned the oven on to heat up etc and its all turned off at the plugs!

[ToraToraTora]

jura: "Surely if you turn off your TV at the socket it will not be able to record programmes. " - TVs do not record programs, that's the sky/virgin/freeview box, the TV is just a peripheral.