Phone chargers

[Loosehead]

There was an item on the news tonight about saving electricity. Apparently leaving a charger plugged in uses power. How? Where does it go? Also what happens when you leave the phone charging all night when it's fully charged how does it stop charging? Can an expert please explain? Thanks

[brachiopod]

I'm no expert, but all these chargers, AC supplies for i-pods and portable DVD players etc etc contain transformers in the black, plug end bit.
(If they didn't, we'd just plug our gadgets straight into the mains with a standard 240V cable, right?)

These all produce heat whether the item to be charged/ run/ played is plugged in or not, as I presume they contain induction coils of one description or another.

[Daave]

and apparently a standard phone charger uses more electric whilst not charging that if it was plugged into the phone!