Why does leaving electronics plugged in still consume electricity?

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Let’s say I have a computer plugged in, or a microwave, or phone charger plugged in. Isn’t the point of a device being off is that it’s not supposed to be using electricity? How much watts of power am I looking at that’s being consumed per hour?

Where does this apply and where does it not? Shouldn’t I try to unplug everything as much as possible to save money?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The majority of electronics use negligible amounts of power when not in use, mainly for LCD displays, clocks, indicator lights(LEDs), etc, and you needn’t worry about them. One exception is TVs. Most TVs these days when you switch them off use a “standby mode” so they turn on fast. An average LCD TV might use 25-50w when it’s on, and maybe 1-5w in standby mode depending on its size and design. Although it’s not a huge amount, it’s probably more than all the other items put together.

It’s probably the only thing that you might consider turning off completely when not in use, although they usually have an option in the settings where you select to have the TV use standby mode or not when you turn it off. Selecting no standby mode will be just like unplugging it when not in use.

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