Ways of Wasting Electricity | Standby Power | Cut It And Save Money
It’s unfortunate to say, but our lifestyle just multiplies our ways of wasting electricity, especially with standby power consumption. As the summer (and its high temperatures) draws near and with high gas prices already making a dent in consumers’ budgets, everyone is devising strategies to reduce cooling costs to a manageable level. In this context, it’s important to (once again) alert people about standby waste. Several studies show that the average American home contains at least ten energy-wasting circuits that constantly consume 20-60 W—equivalent to a single light bulb left on all the time.
Standby Power: Vampire Appliances
So-called vampire appliances stay awake all night, every night, sucking up an average of 5% of the monthly electric bill, according to Alan Meier, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California. This standby power use costs U.S. consumers $3 billion a year, or about $200 per household. This hidden energy use–often generated by fossil fuel power plants–contributes to the production of greenhouse gases, including about 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.
How to spot them
Fortunately, it’s easy to spot the energy suckers: they’re the ones that need to be reset or reprogrammed anytime the power goes off. Electrical appliances slurp up energy even when switched off in order to support features such as timers, clocks, memory and remote “on” and “off” switches. Power used by the clocks or memory chips that keep these appliances correctly programmed are culprits, as are “instant-on” TVs, which come to life without the need to warm up. Another very common “electricity vampire” is a power adapter which has no power-off switch.
Although each clock or chip uses only a little energy, the constant consumption 24 hours a day, seven days a week, adds up. To get an idea of how many vampires are lurking in your home, take a simple inventory. How many clocks (night stand, microwave and oven) are plugged in? How many cell phone chargers are left plugged in day in and day out? Does your coffeemaker have a timer and clock for turning it on and off at preset times? How many CD, VCR or DVD players are plugged in that have clocks or memories? Any electronic with a box-like transformer at the plug end of the cord is drawing power on standby, which is why the transformer is always warm to the touch.
Which are the Big Energy Wasters?
TV satellite boxes are one of the biggest standby power guzzlers, using anywhere from 7 to 40 watts, says Meier, partly because they must maintain a continuous connection to the satellite system. Other heavy users include devices with remote controls such as TVs and VCRs, which use an average of 5-7.6 watts. Satellite receivers for televisions and VCRs use almost as much electricity when they are switched off as when they are on. Receivers inside these appliances must stay on at all times, ready to receive a signal from the remote. Appliances that provide clock displays and timers also use quite a bit of standby power (3 watts on average).
Unfortunately, few energy customers are aware that 5-10% of their energy costs essentially provide them with no added benefit—accumulating to costs averaging $200 annually per household. Nor are they aware that more and more of these circuits are being added to “smart” appliances planned for release in the near future.
“Off doesn’t mean off anymore, but standby,” says Mark Pierce, a Cornell Cooperative Extension associate in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. “As a result, we’re using the equivalent of seven electrical generating plants just to supply the amount of electricity needed to support the standby power of our vampire appliances when they’re off.”
The standby power of a computer monitor, however, only costs about $3 a year when the computer is shut down nights and weekends. However, if the computer’s “sleep” function is used, the power costs $41 a year for those nights and weekends — almost as much as the $57 a year it costs to run the computer just on weekdays.
Facts Consumers Should Know
Power Supplies
For example, one billion low-voltage power supplies account for a large portion of standby losses. These silent energy users include the chargers for devices that run on batteries, like cellphones, iPods and personal digital assistants, and all the devices around the house that have adapters because they run on direct current, like answering machines. Some have both batteries and steady power use, like cordless phones. These linear power supply modules (sometimes called bricks or wallpacks) are used in U.S. homes to drop 110V AC to a lower DC voltage used by appliances, including telephone answering machines, portable radios, and inkjet printers. When the appliance is in use, linear power supplies waste as much as 3 watts. But when the appliance is turned off, the power supply continues to consume 3 watts. Customers can identify vampire power supplies by touching one. If it’s warm, it’s consuming electricity.
The solution is to replace linear power supplies with more efficient (85%) electronic switching power supplies, like those used in personal computers. Such replacement could save the U.S. more than a gigawatt of power each year. Another option is to purchase appliances that rely on rechargeable or photovoltaic batteries to retain memory or operate a clock, for example, when the appliance is turned off. For currently owned appliances, standby energy consumption can be reduced by unplugging the module or plugging it into a power strip that can be turned off.
DSL & Cable Modems
Vampires and wall warts are only part of the problem. DSL or cable modems, among other things, are increasingly likely to be left on around the clock. A computer left on continuously can draw nearly as much power as an efficient refrigerator – 70 to 250 watts, depending on the model and how it is used.
Cable Boxes, TVs, VCRs, DVD Players
Entertainment units rank among the largest sources of standby loss. In a survey conducted by researchers at both the Florida Solar Energy Center and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), five of seven cable boxes metered and all eight digital satellite systems used more than 10 watts in standby mode. Forty percent of TV/VCR combination units, 36% of mini-systems, and 33% of powered speakers used more than 10 watts. Some TVs, VCRs and receivers were also among the highest leakers. VCRs and DVD players spend 96% of the time in standby and idle modes, during which they consume 90% of the energy they use. One new video recorder consumes 60W at all times because it has no power switch at all.
Consumers need to factor standby power consumption rates into their purchasing decisions. Plugging entertainment devices into a switchable power strip that can be turned off when the appliances are not in use saves electricity. However, if preference settings and clocks are not backed up by batteries, appliances need to be reconfigured each time they are used—an unacceptable consequence.
Set-top boxes often consume more power than the TVs they support. In standby or idle mode, cable and satellite boxes consume more power than the average TV consumes. According to an LBNL study, digital cable boxes are the worst offenders, using 200 kWh/yr—twice the energy of an analog box and 40% more than the average TV set. A combination high definition TV/satellite receiver box used over 30 W in all modes.
Battery Chargers
Many battery chargers continue to provide power even when the battery is fully charged. An increasing number of consumers are relying on battery-operated devices—portable tools, pagers, PDAs, computers, and phones, for example. All of these devices need to be recharged. However, not all battery chargers are created equal. Some chargers, particularly those for alkaline and nickel cadmium batteries, continue to provide a trickle charge even after the battery has been fully charged.
The solution is to purchase battery chargers that halt the flow of current when they are not needed. Chargers for lithium ion batteries do this automatically, because overcharging these batteries damages them. If you are uncertain whether your battery charger operates this way, unplug it from the wall or remove the portable device from the charger after it is fully charged.
Garage Door Openers
Garage door openers use 3.6 watts of standby power. Installed in 28% of U.S. homes, garage door openers use linear power supplies, a radio receiver for remote control, and an infrared emitter used to sense objects in the path of a closing door. To reduce this parasitic power, manufacturers can redesign their products to consume as little as one watt. Evidence indicates that the extra $5.00 cost is paid back in power savings within two years. So, consumers can seek out and support companies that supply energy-efficient models.
“Convenient” Features
Instant-on appliances, remote controlled appliances, digital clocks, and memory retention require “live” circuits. Incorporated into appliances ranging from garage door openers to DVD players, instant-on remote control capabilities require appliances to maintain a state of awareness that allows them to respond to a user’s command. Similarly, appliances that store user preferences (e.g., channels, equalizer settings, phone numbers, and clock settings) require continuous power to retain this information. A 1999 study by New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority revealed that over 40% of microwave ovens consumed more electricity powering the clock and keypad than cooking food.
One option for consumers is to consider purchasing appliances that do not provide unneeded functionality, such as clocks and lighted displays. The only way to prevent this form of leakage is to unplug the unit or turn it off using a switchable power strip when not in use. But like VCRs, this erases preferences stored in memory. Manufacturers can design appliances that retain memory by using “flash” memory or battery backup.
Manufacturing Considerations
The words “off” and “on” no longer seem to apply; a better word might be “idling.” They won’t even say ‘off’ now; they’ll say ‘power’. One culprit is the microchip, whose presence is revealed by a “soft button” instead of a switch. Microchips are generally an improvement over mechanical controls because they are more durable and sophisticated. They also help reduce the size and weight of consumer products. But they require a continuous trickle of electricity. Energy experts say it would be simple to cut that trickle in half – not by running around the house unplugging everything in sight, which would require much resetting of clocks, but by engineering products differently.
It doesn’t cost much to make a more efficient device: sometimes just 50 cents a unit, they say. But consumers don’t consider invisible energy use – “there’s no labeling of power use in ’standby,’ ” Mr. Meier said, and “no way for people to recognize what a low-standby device is” – making government-imposed energy efficiency the best hope, he said.
Standby Power Worldwide
Worldwide, standby power consumes an average of 7 percent of a home’s total electricity bill, although that figure is as much as 25 percent in some homes. In Australia, standby power accounts for 13 percent of total energy use; in Japan it accounts for 12 percent; and in the United States, 5 percent.
Increasing the efficiency of appliances would cut standby power consumption by about 72 percent, according to a recent study by the International Energy Agency in France.
“Yet the vast majority of consumers aren’t even aware that electrical appliances continue to draw electricity when switched off,” says Pierce. “And even if they were aware, they would not be able to purchase a non-vampire, or at least a less voracious vampire appliance, because no regulation requires manufacturers to label how much electricity their appliances draw when off.”
What can consumers do?
If timers and other features aren’t being used, consumers can turn off their most wasteful appliances by plugging them into fuse-protected power strips (also known as surge protectors) that, when turned off, can disrupt the flow of electricity when the appliances aren’t being used.
Consumers can encourage their U.S. representatives to support legislation that would require labeling of appliances with their standby energy requirements.
When choosing a new appliance, consumers can research if it uses less than 1 watt of standby power by accessing web sites such as http://standby.lbl.gov/data/1wproducts.html at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
There’s a cool little gadget available that can help you determine which of your plug-in items are the most inefficient power consumers. It’s the Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor. You just plug it into the wall outlet and then plug your electrical device into the Kill-a-Watt monitor. It will allow you to assess how efficient the electrical device is. You can calculate the item’s electrical cost by the day, week, month, or year to help you decide whether a more efficient model would save you money over time.
The Energy Department would be in charge of setting standby mode standards that would apply to all consumer products sold in the United States. “Things may be a small step for each individual consumer,” said Douglas Faulkner, the acting assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, “but they can add up across the country.”
The Energy Star program, whose labels on electronics help consumers comparison shop, has announced that it will not rate a product that fails its standby mode requirements.
“Consumers are buying more electronics, and there are more consumers,” Mr. Faulkner said. “So the amount used by these devices is going up.”
All the more reason to cut our ways of wasting electricity and make each item as energy efficient as possible. Cut back on standby power consumption!
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Five…
Welcome to the June 23, 2008 edition of All Things Eco.
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