Energy Sapping Phantom Loads

Have you ever checked how much electricity your home is using when nothing is switched on? There are always appliances using power even when you think nothing is operating. These are called phantom loads because they are using power without you doing anything!

Switch off all the lights and all the obvious power consumers like fridges, freezers, heaters etc. and then measure the total amount of power being consumed on a home power meter like the Electrisave. This will give you a reading in kilowatt hours and represents your phantom load. The example in the table below is for a four bedroom house in the UK. The total continuous load is 150 watts. This may not sound like much, but multiply that by 24 for a daily figure and then again by 365 for a yearly consumption and you get 1,314,00 watts per year. This equates to 1,314 kilowatt hours per year. Cost of that electricity at a typical utility tariff of 13.5p/kWh is a staggering £177.39 per year. You are paying this much without doing anything........no fridges, lights, TV, computer etc. Phantom loads may account for 25% of your annual electricity bill!

To discover what power these phantom loads actually represent, plug in an energy monitor like the PM-230 to each individual electrical appliance in the house. It may take an hour or so, but will be very interesting. Here is a list of the appliances you may find presenting phantom loads 24 hours a day:

Appliance type	Power consumption in watts when not in operation
HiFi system	9
Telephone answering machine	7
Electronic game	11
Shaver socket	2
Mobile phone charger	4
Fax	4
Burglar alarm	5
Security light	5
Doorbell	4
Computer	15
Broadband router	10
Printer	7
Sound system	8
Cooker	1
Extractor fan	3
Microwave	3
DVD	14
TV aerial booster	2
Satellite	10
VCR	11
Television	15
Total phantom load	150

All the appliances above were switched off at their built-in switch where appropriate, but left connected to the power. It is alarming just how much power some items consume even when not being used. Most people know that a television on standby still uses power, but some TV's, even when switched off, take 15 watts! Obviously some of these appliances could be switched off at the mains socket or disconnected from the supply when not in use, especially things like the printer and the mobile phone charger.

You could install an energy saving adaptor like the Intelliplug to your computer and home entertainment equipment, which ensures that devices not in use are disconnected from the mains. Alternatively, a simple mechanical timeswitch could be used. This can nearly halve the phantom loads in your house, but virtually everything else needs to be permanently connected to the electricity supply. Hopefully, you will now be aware what devices could be robbing your expensive electricity!

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Phantom Loads