Do you always leave the cell phone charger plugged in? Then you are wasting electricity unnecessarily – and therefore money. But the charger is certainly not the only hidden power guzzler in the household. TECHBOOK asked an expert how devices in standby mode affect the electricity bill.
Any charger that is constantly plugged in is like a trickling faucet. The reason for this is the transformer, which also consumes electricity in standby – even if no end device (e.g. smartphone, tablet or laptop) is connected. The so-called transformer ensures the conversion of the voltage from 230 volts to the required level.
How do I know if a charger is consuming power in standby?
To test whether a charger eats electricity in standby, you only have to touch it: if it is warm, electricity flows. Higher-powered chargers often also emit an electrical hum, which also indicates current flow. Incidentally, the same also applies to the chargers for electric toothbrushes, shavers and cameras, as well as laptops and PCs.
Although the power consumption of these devices is generally not high, there are almost 9000 hours in a year. So for every forgotten charging cable, several kilowatt hours accumulate pointlessly. In addition, some batteries can be destroyed by overcharging.
Disconnect unused devices from the network
In order to save electricity, you should not leave your electronic devices on standby all the time. That also advises Jens Hakenes, editor at co2online GmbH. “Chargers or other power adapters that are not in use should always be disconnected from the mains power supply, either by unplugging them or using a switchable power strip. Most mobile phone models also have an energy saving mode. If it is activated, the battery lasts longer. Even better: switch off your cell phone if you don’t use it for a long time.”
How much money can I save?
Tasted one Kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2021 still averaged 32.16 cents, the average electricity price in Germany in 2022 was already 37.14 cents per kWh. At least at the moment the price is a bit lower at 34.6 cents (as of March 2023), but that can change again. Electricity is therefore tending to become more expensive. One should pay even more attention to hidden sources of consumption in the household.
“As a rule of thumb, the newer the charger, the more economical it is. Since 2014, chargers and other power supplies should comply with an EU regulation. It stipulates that power supplies with up to 51 watts only consume 0.3 watts when idling. Such a charger uses 2.4 kilowatt hours per year and costs 0.98 euros (at 22 hours of idle time per day). According to the Federal Environment Agency, idle consumption of around 5 watts is also possible. That would be 40 kilowatt hours or a good 16 euros per year,” says Hakenes.
At first glance, that doesn’t sound like much, but in most households more than one charger is in standby and eats up electricity unnoticed. The consumption quickly adds up. This was also shown by our own TECHBOOK experiment, in which, among other things, we consistently disconnected all chargers from the power supply.
Also read: The best smart sockets for the home
Hidden standby devices in the home
Hardly any household appliance can do without electronic controls these days. From a technical point of view, everything used to be simpler, electronic devices had real off switches that completely disconnected the device from the mains when it was “off”. This is still the case, for example, with tower PCs that have a large I/O switch on the back of the power supply. In contrast to this, many electronic devices today only have “appearing off” switches or pushbuttons, behind which electronics are hidden that constantly consume electricity. These include, for example:
- TV
- Radio
- Receiver
- Drucker
- game console
- microwave
- washing machine
- tumble dryer
- dishwasher
- Herd
- coffee machine
The reasons why the devices constantly consume electricity in standby are very different. Some show the time permanently. Others are always ready to receive signals from a remote control, because this is the only way to switch them on at any time from the comfort of your sofa. In the case of coffee machines or photocopiers, which first have to be heated up, it is important to ensure that they can be used immediately.
On average, standby consumption makes up a tenth of the electricity bill. Older devices in particular often consume more power in standby mode than the new ones. Hakenes: “An old stereo system, for example, can cause unnecessary costs of almost 35 euros per year.”
Here are some examples of how much power devices use on average in standby mode:
Tip: Switch off standby and save electricity
Use a switched power strip for standby devices. This means that several devices can be disconnected from the power supply at the same time without having to pull the plug out of the socket.