Standby Power

This has been nagging at me for some time, but until now I've had no data. I've bugged people at work, my wife, even my infant son to turn off their computers at night, their musical mobiles, whatever. Turns out I'm right- standby power can use up to 75% of a device's full power.

As reported at Worldchanging, there are alternatives to simply shutting off or unplugging devices. Smart Strips sense when a smart device, such as a laptop, goes into sleep mode, and then shuts off other devices. The chart below, courtesy of the Australian Government via Worldchanging gives a break down of standby power use by some common devices:


An older (2001) Berkeley study shows that home power bills can be reduced by up to 25% by eliminating standby loss from home appliances.