News hardware I measured the power consumption in standby mode of my electronic devices, the result will surprise you
Published on 01/09/2022 at 20:30
What is the overall electricity consumption of the sockets in an apartment without a single appliance switched on? This is a question I wanted to address by measuring my own consumption and the costs incurred.
The energy crisis has been an omnipresent subject for several months in France and in Europe, which can lead consumers (including me) to new considerations – even if I sometimes regret not having taken an interest in it much earlier. A fundamentally anything but new question in this context – but to be honest, I never pushed it further – is the total standby power consumption in my apartment.
In order to obtain the most convincing results, I therefore grabbed my best measuring tool to check the consumption of the sockets currently occupied in my apartment. I slip it to you here, but know that to reduce your consumption, you can use WLAN sockets.
On behalf of these measurements, you should know that none of my devices were in real working order. To give you an idea, my Internet box was working, but it was not actively used at the time of the measurement. The PCs were off, but the power supplies were plugged into the mains.
What are my devices and what is their consumption in standby
With the exception of certain products, connected devices are mostly common objects that should be found in most homesas shown in the following overview, also including consumption values:
| Laptop | 1,2 |
|---|---|
| PC fixe | 2,1 |
| PC Monitor #1 | 0,6 |
| PC Monitor #2 | 0,7 |
| PC speakers | 0 |
| Adjustable desk | 0,8 |
| USB Charger #1 | 0 |
| USB charger #2 | 0 |
| Desk lamp | 0 |
| Fan | 0 |
| Multifunction kitchen appliance | 4,4 |
| Coffee machine | 0 |
| Grille-pain | 0 |
| Electric toothbrush charging station | 0 |
| WIFI router | 8,3 |
| TV | 0,7 |
| sound bar | 0,6 |
| Living room halogen lamp | 0 |
Major appliances such as my refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and microwave are not included in the measurements.
What is my total standby consumption? With all the devices together, I get a consumption of about 20 watts. Assuming, for example, an electricity price of €0.17 per kilowatt hour, this translates into the following costs over a year if the devices were all permanently in this state:
20 watts * 24 hours of operation per day * 365 days per year = 175,200 watt hours = 175.1 kilowatt hours * 0.17 euros per kilowatt hour = 29.77 euros electricity costs per year
This is quite a low sum even though I didn’t use any of my devices during the measurements. However, consumption differs significantly depending on the device models and the configuration of the home.
We must also take into account the current price of the kilowatt hour which is quite low at the momentbut which could climb considerably in the coming months for the reasons we know. I could also go to the trouble of unplugging all my devices to lower the costs even further, but you have to admit that this is not very practical. Also, many devices are running simultaneously at different times of the day, and while that only increases my power consumption, it can’t be avoided, because sometimes I really need it.
Moreover, I live in a humble 27m² and I therefore do not have the same needs as a large family or even as a person living in a larger apartment.
Which devices consume the most power in standby mode?
If we take a closer look at the table above, we quickly realize that it is mainly my two computers and my Wi-Fi router that consume the most without active use.
My desktop PC consumes a total of 2.1 watts (3.4 if you add the two screens and speakers) even when turned off (not in Windows sleep mode), which is mainly due to my motherboard which has a built-in screen and RGB LEDs. On the other hand, we can notice that some appliances consume absolutely no energy, even in standby, such as lamps, the toaster, the coffee machine or the fan.
What did I learn from these measurements?
In the future, I want to try to convert as many sockets as possible in a smart and practical way so that I can reduce their standby consumption to zero in no time. The easiest solution is to invest in power strips or adapters that can be turned off completely with a switch.
Another less viable solution, turning on the Wi-Fi router only when I really need the internet – quite annoying on a day-to-day basis. Still, I could at least use this ploy at night when no one is using a connection.
However, switching the device on and off can be even more of a hassle if the sockets are difficult to access. – which is not really the case with me. I’m also sure that many of you have already come up with viable strategies through your own experience, so you’ll definitely have more advice for me.