Why/how do things still use electricity when they are turned off but plugged in (or just plugged in like a charger not connected to anything)? Where does the electricity go?
In: Technology
Engineer here. The short answer is, the electricity turns to heat. Put your hand on a wall wart and it will feel warm. That’s where the standby power is going.
Now, the reason something like a phone charger still consumes electricity even if it’s not charging your phone is because it’s not actually off (unless you unplug it from the socket or use a mechanical switch to physically break the electrical connection to the socket). Any time the charger is plugged in, the circuit remains powered up to monitor the output. That way the power starts flowing the instant the phone gets plugged in.
A modern phone charger doesn’t use much power on standby. Something like 0.1 watts. That’s so little you won’t even be able to feel that the charger is a fraction of a degree hotter than room temperature while on standby. To put that in context, charging a phone takes 10-11W (a hundred times the power of standby)
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