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

If it’s using electronic components it’ll have a tiny draw in standby. If it’s purely electrical (kettle, toaster, most power showers etc) then it won’t draw any current at all when not in use.

A friend turns her shower off when it’s not in use. The cost of running the tiny red light is way less than the cost of replacing the switch when it eventually wears out.

Back when power supplies used transformers, they could use a chunk of current when not in use. Now everything uses switch mode power supplies, the current drain is tiny. Unfortunately, idiot journalists who write stupid articles saying you’re wasting hundreds a year with your TV on standby don’t understand the difference.

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