Our articles on the Energy Meter in this month’s issue and the review of the "Power-Mate" energy monitor in last month’s issue have highlighted the problem of standby power. On any assessment, standby power is wasted power. It is continuously consumed by appliances merely so that they will be ready to do their intended task, at any time, as soon as we press a button or whatever.

Most people are probably aware that their TV, VCR and microwave ovens all draw standby power of about 5W each and they think, "Oh, well that’s only 15W and I can live with that." But standby power in the average household is far more pervasive and if you go from room to room you will probably be surprised to find how much gear you’ve got which is always pulling power.

In the kitchen, as well as the microwave oven, there is probably the dishwasher, oven (clock), refrigerator, portable vacuum cleaner charger, cordless phone base station and a small audio system and perhaps a TV.

In your home office, you probably have a computer with an ATX power supply, a mobile phone charger, another small audio system, maybe a fax machine and perhaps a few plugpacks to power computer peripherals which are permanently plugged in.

In the family living room there is usually a plethora of electronic gear (TV, VCR, DVD, CD, home theatre system, etc), all with remote controls and all as a result, usually permanently powered up. There may also be an air-conditioner (with remote control) or perhaps you have under-floor heating (again, with stand-by power being drawn). Elsewhere in the home, you may have a door-bell, burglar alarm, perhaps an electric clock and some PIR-controlled lights.

In the bedrooms, the story will be repeated, especially if you have teenage children: TV, audio system, games box, mobile phone charger and so on. In your garage, you may have one or two door openers (both with remote controls) and you may have the odd power tool charger plugged in as well.

Possibly, you can add a few more to this list in your household. Tot them all up and you could easily find that you have a permanent standby power draw of 150 watts or more. Over a year, that could cost you well over $200, depending on the state in which you live. For people who are well off, that’s not a big burden. And if you have cold winters, you might argue that it’s giving you heating that you would otherwise pay for. But for people on low incomes, standby power is a real issue.

What to do? It’s pretty easy really. Just make a habit of turning off or unplugging all appliances which are not being used. Not only will you save power but you may prevent damage to appliances which could happen if you have a power surge or a nearby lightning strike.

And next time you are about to purchase an appliance, consider the standby power it draws. You could save quite a lot of money over the life of the appliance, perhaps even more than the initial purchase price.

Leo Simpson