Any item from a light/lamp, fan, electronics, appliances, etc. If it is only plugged in but not on, does it in fact pull electricity still and if so how much? Does it make an actual impact on your monthly bill? Would it be good in conserving energy to unplug these types of items when not in use?
Maybe another way to word it, will it continue to use electricity (pull) even though the item is not turned on and is only plugged in?
I ask this because recently on our companies internal internet page they asked what if anything, people were doing to conserve energy, protect the environment, etc. Just as part of the question of the week type set up. Someone answered that they were unplugging items that weren’t being used so as to not continue to use electricity since the item was off. Just curious.
6 Responses
I don’t understand what you mean by pull electricity. Alternating circuits do just that they alternate/ vibrate and procue a cicuit like that; hence power. When the connection is broken the vibrating stops and no more power is available. Direct current does flow but most out lets are AC.
This comes about because of cell phone chargers and other devices that have AC/DC transformers in them. If you leave these plugged in, with nothing else connected (you’re not charging your cell phone), you’ll notice the transformer part is still warm, meaning it’s still using electricity.
It depends on the appliance. If you are talking about a TV for instance the answer, in most cases, is yes it continues to draw power to keep the instant-on function alive. LCD and Plasma flat tv’s draw more than the CRT (Tube) type and the off-line power consumption varies by screen size and manufacturer. Here is a good article on this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-2.html
There are other appliances and electronic equipment that draw power in standby mode – a good clue is whether or not it has a clock in it like your range or VCR. Power consumption in this latter category is insignificant compared to the standby power of TV’s. Check this site:
http://www.aceee.org/pubs/a981.htm
To draw current, a circuit has to be complete which would imply that when you turn an appliance off, it will not draw current. The problem is that some appliances do not completely turn off. They have another circuit still on to remember settings, show an LED display etc.
These circuits usually do not draw very much current – usually on the order of 0.01 Amps at 5 Volts. This would amount to 4.38 kilowatt-hours per year and costing about 44 cents per year (at 10 cents per kilowatt-hour).
You can check the user manual of the appliance to see how much power it consumes in the stand-by mode.
The best way to test which appliances you need to unplug is by testing the circuit with an ammeter. It can tell you if an appliance is drawing current and how much. This can be complicated if you are not an electrical wizard. Luckily there is a device called Kill A Watt.
http://www.smarthome.com/9034.html
It can determine what appliances are wasting energy very easily.
some items will still draw a sleep or stand by current even when they are on the off position.
or if the product was not subjected to the energy conservation standards of today probably will have small leaks.
it is a small amount though that for most companies it is neglectable. but technically yes you will save energy that way.
Power is a function of current. If you stop the flow of current you will stop the flow of power. Therefore, if the appliance is switched off the power will be off and there will be NO continuous pull of power. Don’t unplug your lights at night! Just flip the switch to off. Your clock radio and cable box consumes some power to keep the clock going, and there is a current (power) draw for stand by mode, but it is not very much. Still a little is somting. Your computer in hibernate mode consumes a little power you may want to flip it off at night. Use common sense and remember that a lot of little things do add up.