Electricity Usage at our House
In the table below, the columns are generally defined as this:
- Currently Operating – The device is actively being used for its main purpose. For example, this column measure how many watts a printer would use while printing a page.
- On, but idle – The device is turned on, but not currently being used. For example, a printer that is on and ready to print a page, but which is not currently doing any printing.
- Standby – The device is turned off. For many devices, this does not really mean “off”, but instead, the device goes into a reduced power usage mode.
- Other – if there are other measurements for the item, they are listed in this column.
“Vampire power” comes from 2 sources. First, it comes from devices that are left on all the time, but which may or may not be idle, such as the tivo. Second, it comes from devices that you have turned “off”, but in reality they are not really off. Instead, they are in a standby mode which may use a surprising amount of energy while doing nothing other than waiting for you to turn it back on again.
All numbers below represent Watts.
| Device | Currently Operating | On, but idle | Standby (off) | Other | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop | 66 | 66 | 26 | Hibernate mode: 25 only transformer plugged in: 0.5 |
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| Dell Inspiron 530 desktop | 110 | 70 | 2 | Hibernate: 1 | ||||||||||||
| Dell Dimension 4550 desktop | 100 | 56 | 2 | Hibernate: 1 | ||||||||||||
| HP Pavilion 6535 desktop | 45 | 35 | 2 | Off: 1 | ||||||||||||
| Dell Latitude CPx | 50 | 50 | 22 | |||||||||||||
| cell phone chargers (Motorola and Blackberry together) | 1 | 1 | < 0.1 | |||||||||||||
| Fellowes DM8C paper shredder | 220 | 1 | < 0.1 | |||||||||||||
| Sony LCD Monitor SDM-S95DR | 39 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| HP Laserjet 2100 B&W laser printer | 15 | 1 | 0 | has physical on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| HP Photosmart C5280 inkjet printer | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Desk lamp with 14W CFL | 15 | n/a | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Motorola MD681 cordless phone | 4 | 3 | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Siemens SpeedStream 4100B DSL modem | 3 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Linksys Wireless-G Router WRT54G | 3 | 3 | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Harmon Kardon computer speakers | 2 | 2 | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Linksys 10/100 8-Port Switch EZXS88W | 2 | 2 | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Cuisinart Automatic coffee maker | 40 | 0.5 | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Pioneer DVD Player DV-440 | 9 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Sony Bravia LCD TV KDL-40W3000 | 108 | 75 | < 0.1 | remarkably low standby usage! | ||||||||||||
| Pioneer surround sound speaker system | 20 | 1 | 0 | Only the subwoofer is plugged in separately. No on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| Pioneer Amp/Receiver DSX-V8105 | 60 | 52 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Tivo Series3 HD | 42 | 42 | 0 | no on/off switch — always running | ||||||||||||
| JVC digital receiver RX-304 | 42 | 33 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| JVC CD Changer XL-M307 | 6 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Apple iPod (original) | 6 | 6 | 5 | Transformer only: < 0.1 | ||||||||||||
| Whirlpool refrigerator (2nd fridge) | 30 | 1 | 0 | “On” means when the compressor is going. “Standby” is when the compressor is not going. No on/off switch. | ||||||||||||
| Ryobi cordless drill battery recharger | 5 | 3 | 0 | “On” means when the battery is actively being charged, and “standby” means after the charging is complete. |
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| Rayovac battery charger with 8 AA rechargable batteries | 11 | 11 | 0 | No on/off switch. “On” means when the battery is actively being charged, and “standby” means after the charging is complete. | ||||||||||||
| Black & Decker Versapac cordless tool battery charger | 9 | 3 | 0 | No on/off switch. “On” means when the battery is actively being charged, and “standby” means after the charging is complete. |
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| 16″ room fan | 51 | 40 | 0 | “On” means “high”, and “standby” means “low”. | ||||||||||||
| Sony alarm clock/radio ICF-C610 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Oral-B electric toothbrush recharger | < 0.1 | < 0.1 | 0 | Negligible even while charging | ||||||||||||
| Norelco Electric Shaver G390 | 1 | < 0.1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Hot Tools Pro 1500W hair dryer |
|
n/a | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Floor lamp with bar-shaped halogen bulb | 261 | 120 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| First Alert Carbon Monoxide Alarm | < 0.1 | n/a | 0 | no on/off switch | ||||||||||||
| iRobot Roomba 550 robotic vacuum cleaner | 4 | 3 | 0 | “On” means when it is charging, “standby” means after it has finished charing. |
