Designed under the premise of comfort, many of the home appliances y Technological devices that are currently marketed include installations or illuminated buttons that remain always active and require an incessant flow of electricity.
After breaking the news that there will be electricity rate increases in addition to those already announced for households that exceed 400 KwH monthly consumptionit is appropriate to know which are the electrical appliances that use the most energy just to be plugged in.
The most advanced lines of products for the home, and above all, the hardware with a gamer stamp, come equipped with active keys, LED panels or sensors that recognize voice. Y although they work in passive modeenergy demand is constant.
When turning off many of these appliances, in reality, the electrical fluid continues to circulate through their circuits. And although it is a small part, the counter does not stop adding. This silent trickle was typified as “stand by” consumption or informally, vampire the ghost consumption.
The purpose of the mode standby It was designed to make it faster to turn on some appliances that you need a previous warm-up, like the television. But for aesthetic reasons, more and more devices bring it, even those in which its incorporation is not justified.
As a sales argument, these energy-saving lights and buttons adorn the surfaces of kitchens, ovens, washing machines and make them more attractive to the buyer’s eye. It is estimated that the lines of electronic devices with these characteristics, almost tripled in the last decade.
A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the International Energy Agency in the United States shared the energy consumption of appliances turned off, but plugged in, especially at night.
As they explain, electrical appliances turned off, or in standby mode, consume in average, regarding 1.6 kWh (kilowatt hours) per day. This would mean between 5% and 10% of the total energy consumption of the home.
Notebook
Most current notebooks employ sensors and control logic to prevent overloading at 100%. However, this technology does not prevent high state of charge from creating additional stress on the battery which can accelerate battery degradation.
When powered off, but still plugged into an outlet, a laptop can consume up to 8.9 kWh. In hibernation mode, when the display and power to the drives are turned off, this can rise to as much as 15.7 kWh.
televisions
There are many models with different sizes, resolutions and very varied characteristics. The rule is that the more features the TV offers, the higher its consumption level.
A standard 43-inch television consumes regarding 43 Wh following 1,000 hours of use. While a 55-inch screen can consume 99 kWh.
The consumption of a television is determined by the type of screen (LED, LCD, MicroLed) and its size in inches. The largest ones, such as those of 65 inches, can consume regarding 123 kWh following 1,000 hours of use.
The television, together with the washing machine, account for around 12% of the electricity bill of an average home in Argentina. The problem is that there are no televisions with a low energy rating, as there are refrigerators.
microwave
Although many think that it is in the top five of those that you spend the most, it consumes very little and can be used to cook and save on the electricity bill at the same time.
This is because microwave technology allows you to directly heat food without having to reheat a surface first, which means much more energy is used. For example, to heat a liter of water from 15º to 90º, only 0.10 kWh is needed.
However, this device multiplies its consumption up to 8 times if the door is open. Its consumption is 3.08 kWh, but with the door open it is 25.79 kWh.
Refrigerator
Refrigerators are the only appliances that remain on all day and consume the most in a year, above air conditioners and lighting. According to an investigation of the INational Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), can represent up to 24% of the demand at the residential level.
Most Argentine households use appliances between 8 and 15 years old. On the other hand, new equipment with an efficiency label of A or higher have consumption 10 times lower than 30 years ago and almost a third compared to those of 15 years ago.
All refrigerators and freezers sold in Argentina must have an energy efficiency class “B” or higher in accordance with current regulations.
A unit with a standard freezer consumes regarding 75 kWh. However, those with LCD display or active icemaker, consume up to twice as much.
The recommendation is to open the door for as little time as possible and, when not in use, make sure that it is properly closed. That it is at least 15 centimeters from heat sources, walls or furniture.
Video game console
Although it has been turned off, while it is plugged into the network it consumes 1 kWh. In standby mode can be raised up to 23.3 kWh. When it is turned on, the platform that demands the most energy is the PlayStation 4, with regarding 90 kWh, the PS5 it reaches 70 kWh and the Xbox Series X with 50 kWh.
In addition, watching streaming videos from a console can use up to 20 times more electricity than from an LCD TV, according to a study by FlatpanelsHD.
cell phone charger
The data provided by the INE (National Institute of Statistics) on electricity consumption indicate that chargers plugged into a socket (without a mobile connected) spends on average 0.0002 kWh, something tiny It is different if you have the mobile as it is draining energy throughout the night.
As a result of this expense, per year it shows a phantom consumption of 1,168 kWh, assuming that it spends an average of 16 hours without charging the mobile.
High consume
To get an idea of how much each appliance consumes and to know if it is within normal parameters, the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE) developed a electricity consumption calculator a kWh.
The first thing will be to select the type of appliance, the number of the device in the house, the number of hours per day it is used and how many days per week.
A A good way to save is to know the energy labels that appears in those electrical devices that fall within the established energy efficiency standards.
This is a certificate that identifies the level of efficiency in different categories, with ‘A’ being the most efficient and ‘G’ being the least recommended.
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