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Phantom Energy - Electrical appliances that cost you money just by being plugged in

BPLightlog
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Updated on 15/01/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

Got a smart meter? Making sure your meter reading schedule is set to half hourly may help give you an indication of what different appliances are using. OVO’s Energy Tracker available on the Online Account gives a breakdown of where your energy is being used.

 


Worried your usage is too high? The following topic may be helpful:
 

 

Phantom Energy - is a phenomenon which is beginning to be talked about more and more but it’s not all that well known or maybe understood.

All electrical appliances generally use power if they are left plugged in, even if they are not switched on. The TV is off via the remote but it’s actually on standby, ready for your next command so what power is used while it does this?

Many other devices which respond to a button push are also on standby .. it is the typical way of designing modern devices to have a quick wake up routine. Even low voltage devices operated via a power supply from the mains, use electricity when they are off. The transformer in these devices is connected even when the item is switched off. But what does this mean and how can we do something about it?

If you have a smart meter and an in home display (IHD), you will be able to see what power is being used via the ‘Usage Now’ screen so last thing when you think everything is off it will show what power is being used at that point. Some of the largest phantom load users are: (edited)

TV 

Fridge 

DVD Player 

DVR (Video Recorder) 

Satellite TV Box 

Video Game Console 

Laptop (on or off!) 

It is thought that a typical phantom power level accounts for 10% of electricity in a home over a year so just think about that with energy price levels now.

What can I do? - You can switch things off at the wall, pull the plug (could be a good strap line), or at least know what is actually on while you are not using it. Fridges in use need to be left switched on and of course any alarm systems or similar which might be in your home. 

 

Do you know what your phantom is using?

Independent volunteer - Sitting in a Faraday cage, waiting for a signal

13 replies

M.isterW
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While it is sensible to reduce your phantom load if you can, your figures are wrong.

A modern TV on standby uses less than 2w. They only use about 60w when on.

A games console only uses 65w (average) when it's on. If it's on standby it on uses about 2w.

A laptop only uses 50w when on. I'm not sure what "standby" is for a laptop but if it's idling it uses a few watts.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
BPLightlog
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While it is sensible to reduce your phantom load if you can, your figures are wrong.

A modern TV on standby uses less than 2w. They only use about 60w when on.

A games console only uses 65w (average) when it's on. If it's on standby it on uses about 2w.

A laptop only uses 50w when on. I'm not sure what "standby" is for a laptop but if it's idling it uses a few watts.

That’s not my experience @M.isterW . Whilst the very latest devices are certainly better, I would guess that most have devices a few years old and they can be a surprise (the figures quoted were taken from a research study).

Laptops plugged in but not on can consume the same power as they do when on

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eezytiger
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Very misleading figures in the original post. I have several smart energy monitor plugs, as well as half hourly smart meter readings.

To take one example from one socket with the following plugged in..

 

Sky broadband router (switched on)

55" OLED TV - standby

Sky Q box - standby

Xbox One X - low power standby

Cordless phone

Fingbox network monitor

 

And that lot consumes just 31 W with the router active.

 

My laptop only has a 45 W power supply. It can be run/charged with USB-C. My USB-C cable shows power draw. For office tasks and browsing the laptop draws, typically, between 10-33 W. When turned off and not needing to charge the battery (charging stops at 80%) the consumption is 0.3 W into the laptop. But I never leave it plugged in when not in use. 

 

 

Of course, not all devices are the same, but inflating numbers ten fold or one hundred fold is stretching credibility.

BPLightlog
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I had taken worst case scenarios (now edited) but most people find they have no idea how much power is used on standby!

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eezytiger
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Haha, fair enough. That's the beauty of half hourly smart meter readings. You get a very good idea of standby/phantom drain when you look at overnight consumption. We're on around 140 W average.

 

I don't have today's figures, but for yesterday overnight consumption before we started turning on TVs and toasters.…

This includes fridge freezer plus another freezer in the garage and the boiler pump for central heating. Also several smart speakers, smart lights, and miscellaneous chargers with attached devices such as security cameras, air quality monitors. All in all it doesn't seem so bad.

M.isterW
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EU law from 2013 says many devices, including TVs, audio equipment etc must use no more than 0.5w in standby mode.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
G
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The one that always makes me roll my eyes with these sorts of things is the TV one. The part when they say if you can't turn it off at the wall - which honestly most of us can't get at it easily - then use a smart plug to turn it on and off. For newer TVs that would actually increase usage since most TVs in standby these days are around 0.5w and the average smart plug is usually 1w just to stay connected to WiFi.

 

Firedog
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There’s another aspect to this ‘vampire device phantom energy’ discussion that I’ve yet to see raised, here or elsewhere. The electrical energy that these devices use is not normally ‘lost’ or ‘wasted’. It can’t go anywhere; it’s just converted into heat energy, in the same way as your grandmother’s one-bar electric fire was designed to do.

In the heating season, we all use thermostats to regulate our energy use. Some of us have complex electronic devices to switch heating equipment on and off according to the temperature, while others rely on their own internal sensor to decide when it’s chilly enough to warrant lighting the fire. Regardless of the degree of sophistication of the thermostat, the more devices there are consuming ‘phantom energy’ in the living space, the later the thermostat will activate the heating system. If you switch everything off at night, it will just be a tiny bit cooler in the morning - but I suspect that the difference will be undetectable.

Devices outside the living space may of course be ‘wasting’ energy by warming up otherwise unheated spaces, but this may be unavoidable - the freezer in the shed, for example. And it’s a different story in the summer, when phantom energy will truly be wasted. But just now, in a British December, it’s quite immaterial whether the Xbox consumes 0.5W, 5W or 50W.
  

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
S
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… But just now, in a British December, it’s quite immaterial whether the Xbox consumes 0.5W, 5W or 50W.

Agreed that it’s “useful” heat at this time of year, but energy in the form of electricity is currently 3.5 times more expensive than energy in the form of gas and that cost difference is why it’s not entirely immaterial.

On a related point, I noticed that Loop Energy’s estimate of “phantom energy” is easily fooled by these peak usage shifting schemes. Just one isolated hour at 6W (I did turn almost everything off) caused the Loop Energy app to assert that my phantom load was costing me £18 per year.

It asked me “Can you reduce it?”

So much for “artificial intelligence”...

Simon
Firedog
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… energy in the form of electricity is currently 3.5 times more expensive than energy in the form of gas and that cost difference is why it’s not entirely immaterial.

Yes, but BP wasn’t referring to cost - just ‘using power.’ My point was just that most of the ‘lost’ energy he (and many others) tot up isn’t wasted, because it helps to keep the house warm. 

Last night, after switching all the lights off at bedtime, I wandered round counting red and green LEDs. I got to 21. If each of them is using 0.1W, that amounts to 18kWh/year. At 35p/kWh, that’s about £6.50. Gas at 10p/kWh to produce the same amount of heat would only cost £2. (This includes the time when the devices concerned are actually in use, mind.) You might be able to buy yourself a pint at Christmas with the saving; I can’t, because gas hasn’t reached this neck of the woods yet. 

‘Immaterial’ is clearly relative.

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
R
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During today’s shift and save (9.00-10.00am)  I left most phantom devices on (fridge, standbys, router etc), and was pleased to see that all the power they used came from my solar panels (it was a lovely bright sunny morning)

BPLightlog
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During today’s shift and save (9.00-10.00am)  I left most phantom devices on (fridge, standbys, router etc), and was pleased to see that all the power they used came from my solar panels (it was a lovely bright sunny morning)

It was a rather productive solar day all round so yes, well timed.

I think as long as people notice appliances they think of as ‘off’ but actually consume some power on standby, that’s a useful start

Independent volunteer - Sitting in a Faraday cage, waiting for a signal
L
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During today’s shift and save (9.00-10.00am)  I left most phantom devices on (fridge, standbys, router etc), and was pleased to see that all the power they used came from my solar panels (it was a lovely bright sunny morning)

May be wrong but I thought I read that if you have solar panels and or batteries you could not enter into shift and save! heat pumps were ok

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