Even when they are turned off, do lamps and other appliances still consume electricity?

Question

I'm referrring to anything that has a switch to turn them on and off. Not items that are thermostatically controlled, like refrigerators and electric hot water heaters.

Answer 1

Correct, anything that has a "stand-by" mode such as your TV, VCR etc that can be electronically turned of with a remote control still uses some power to keep the control circuit active - if you physically turn these things off at the wall switch or with an actual circuit breaking switch on the appliance (most TVs have an On/Off button that physically disconnects it from the power) it no longer uses any power. Even if all that shows on your VCR or DVD is a clock, then it must use a small amount of power. An average electric clock uses typically about 3 - 5 watts and since you electricity bill is charged in kw (thousands of watts) you'd have to run a clock for a long time before it cost you anything other than a few cents. ($10 or so a year is the cost to run an average electric clock - depends on where you live as to what electricity costs. )To find out the annual cost of running your clock, read the back/base for power consumption and multiply by 8760 - the number of hours in a year X the cost per kwh (killawatt hour) for your electricity.

As for things like TVs, VCRs and DVDs that have a standby mode - check the book that came with them as it will tell you the power consumption in watts (w) both in running mode and in standby mode. With some products the difference isn't huge as it depends what circuitry is active and the power mode - ie, transformer or switching. The latter uses less power. A typical appliance (TV for example) might say it uses 250w when "ON" and 48w in Stand By mode. Beware that things like PLASMA TVs use a hell of a lot of power and generate a hell of a lot of heat.

If something is phsically disconnected from the power by a switch then it can't use any electricity, just like your lights.

Power consumption in Stand-By mode is the price we pay for being too lazy to get off our bums and turn the thing off with the switch or to have a clock visible and to enable things to be recorded when we want and the TV to turn on when we push the remote control button.

When not in use, turn your computer off at the mains and you'll be surprised how much power you will save by not running a 400 watt power supply for hours a day when its not in use - that includes your monitor (which is in stand -by mode and any other peripherals like printers and speaker systems. It all adds up! Phone and battery chargers - if you don't unplug them when not being used they still use the same amount of power.

Which reminds me, I have something I need to turn off that is not being used.

Answer 2

Electrical devices such as fans and lamps do not draw current when the switch is off. Electronic devices; like TV's, VCR's, DVD Players, and game consoles; draw current when they are not in active use. For the sake of convenience engineers designed devices like those to draw just enough electricity while they are "off" so that they will spring to life when you activate them. I am told that TV's used to take a few minutes to turn on (back when tubes were used in the electronics), CRT TV's still use a vacuum tube for the screen and would require a brief warm up cycle every time you turned them on if they did not draw a small but steady current even when off. Lamps use a simple switch that completely breaks the flow of electricity to the filament, flourescent tube or LED and so they consume no power when they are switched off. Since modern electronics use transistors instead of tubes the draw when on standby is minimal, but if you have dozens of devices all drawing current it can add up.

Answer 3

Yes, some do. I think it is called "phantom" use of electricity. This has come up with global warming and wasted electricity.
Products like VCR/DVD players ( and other things) that turn on quickly are on standby using a bit of power. I know some burn more than others and there is a tool to test how much power is being drawn.

Answer 4

There ae alot of appliances that use electricity when they are off. I know a television uses electricity when off. I read that DVD players use electricity - I would imagine any device that retains a memory or has a display is using current. I think the US Department of Energy has a list of devices on their website that use electricity when off.

Answer 5

yes ....even when u leave ur phone charger in the circut