I even made some particular measurements during the Christmas week, when the house was unoccupied and everything could be shut off or turned down to its bare minimum – and the fundamental electric usage was still as high as 16kWh per day.
I acquired a digital power meter to figure out which electrical products were the major culprits in order to learn more about these data. The analysis reveals that much of the advice given by the environmental lobby is incorrect. They are requesting that consumers turn off equipment that use almost no electricity (even when on standby), while ignoring devices that consume a lot of power. They’re also attempting to correct this legal imbalance by advocating for a ban on “standby” for new appliances.
The green table displays the baseline results for my appliances that are generally left plugged in; the yellow and red tables illustrate how much more energy would be consumed if the standby equipment was left on 24 hours a day. The one on the far right depicts the single-use power consumption for appliances that are only used once in a while.
Obviously, for different manufacturers and consumption habits, there will be some differences between homes. For example, we leave a PC with a broadband connection running for immediate use by either of two adults or three youngsters, but we’ve used the power management settings to put the PC to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity.
However, we can see that the recent concern about leaving audio-visual (AV) devices and phone chargers on standby is exaggerated, as our usage is comparable to one or two low-energy light bulbs. Put it into context. My mobile phone charger uses 0.009 kWh per day while it is plugged in but not charging. So, in essence, I could leave it on for over a year – 380 days – and it would have used the same amount of energy as running a bath, which consumes 3.5kWh for a single 90-litre soak.
Let’s begin with the microwave. This utilizes 0.096 kWh per day in standby mode. A single shower, on the other hand, consumes 1.4kWh. As a result, putting the microwave on standby for 14 days consumes the same amount of energy as a 40-litre shower at 40 degrees Celsius.
The majority of the publicity around the ban on standby has been on audiovisual equipment. So, how’s everything going with my television? My 28in CRT TV consumes 0.168 kWh per day if I leave it on standby all day. However, if I leave it on all day, it burns an additional 1.2kWh.
In fact, the entire standby debate is founded on absurdly outdated assumptions. Unlike practically all equipment sold since the initial debut of the transistor in the 1960s, only pre-60s thermionic valves need full power on standby to keep their heater coils warm.
Rather than outright outlawing standby, we should demand that it consume less than 1W, which is small enough to respond to a remote control. I’m afraid that if standby was outright prohibited, people would simply leave their equipment on, consuming perhaps ten times the electricity.
Refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, showers – especially baths – and tumble dryers are the real electricity hogs. These consume 20 to 30 times the total power of all audiovisual items in a single day.
Heating water is costly, and some waste is hidden, such as the hot water left in the pipes after you’ve finished washing your hands. Insulating your pipes and, similarly, if you have an open chimney that you don’t use, putting an old cushion up it will help save waste.
Tumble dryers are true power monsters, but washing machines require comparatively little power. Pull the near-dry synthetics from the fully spun wash and spin them again at full speed to remove the most of the water before tossing them in the dryer.
What about light bulbs, for example? Energy-saving bulbs aren’t the whole picture because they don’t operate with dimmer switches and contain a variety of hazardous metals and compounds. The removal of lampshades that decrease the light around the house would be a simpler method for reducing their energy use.
Overall, I believe that many of the present environmental initiatives will fall on deaf ears since they do not take into consideration detailed scientific measurement.
Some of the items on one of the graphics in the pdf above are ten times inflated. The first six figures in the green bar chart (titled Base energy consumption of equipment left plugged in) are correct, but the decimal point should be moved one place to the left in the next ten; for example, the Telewest decoder should be 0.0288kWh daily instead of 0.288. The bar chart heights are true, as is the value for the mobile phone charger at the conclusion.
When things are on standby, do you utilize electricity?
Standby mode is not the same as turning off a device completely. Standby is a mode of operation in which a limited amount of electricity is used to power specific components of an appliance, such as a remote control receiver. The text appears on the screen.
Is it true that electric showers consume a lot of energy?
You might be shocked to learn that an electric shower is the most energy-intensive equipment on our list, but it uses a lot of energy to heat the water and can use up to 1,460 kWh each year.
How much does a ten-minute shower cost in the United Kingdom?
To run a 10-minute power shower, you’d need 150 litres of water and 5.76 kWh of electricity to heat it.
The cost of energy for this type of shower is determined by whether you have a gas or electric boiler.
The new price cap for gas boilers is set at 7.37p per kWh, bringing the cost of heating water for a shower to 44p.
Meanwhile, the electric cap has been raised to 28.34p per kWh, equating to 1.63 each time you do the laundry.
Then there’s the cost of water, which varies based on your local supplier. According to Discover Water, two litres of water from the tap costs about a third of a penny. That works out to less than 25p each shower.
What is a shower isolator switch?
Shower pull cord switches are normally situated on the ceiling and actuated by a pull chain to isolate electricity to an electric shower. A shower switch is used to safely separate the electrical supply if the appliance needs to be serviced, and it should be rated to the appropriate amps.
When might an isolator switch be useful?
A battery isolator switch is primarily used with batteries to divert electrical flow from one area of the battery to another. Trucks, airplanes, other vehicles, and appliances that employ several batteries are among the most prevalent applications.
On standby, what consumes the most electricity?
Appliances must require electricity to be “on alert” in order to receive a remote control signal. Based on research conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on Standby Power, I’ll list the watts used while ‘turned off’, if applicable.
Surprisingly, the amount of energy used when ‘off’ is often comparable to the amount of energy used when ‘on.’ When turned on, the average LCD computer monitor consumes 55 watts, a notebook computer consumes 73 watts, and a CFL light bulb consumes 18 watts.
Most of us would guess that the most prevalent standby electrical vampire culprits are:
Is it true that leaving the television on standby wastes electricity?
Even if you leave your TV on standby for the entire year, it will cost you roughly 11 or 3.2 pence per day if you want to be precise. Of course, if you have two or three televisions in your home, this can quickly add up to 24 or 36 per year.
And we’re just talking about standard LCD TVs in the 43-inch and 50-inch sizes. If you have an older plasma television, such as a 55-inch or 60-inch model, you’ll be using a lot more electricity.
Of course, it’s just the television. If you have an Xbox or a Sky TV box on standby, the figure will almost certainly be greater.
Reaching back and turning the device off at the mains each night might not seem like such a bad idea after all.
In fact, according to research from electricity and gas supplier Utilita, the average UK household has ten appliances on standby that aren’t utilized on a regular basis.
According to the corporation, 30 percent of UK households have items on standby that haven’t been used in a year.
‘Standby mode is a huge energy drainer – some gadgets use the same amount of energy as when they’re switched on,’ said Archie Lasseter, sustainability lead at Utilita.
‘Leaving just one TV on standby in each home can waste up to 16 in electricity every year, totaling 432 million for all UK homes.’