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#11
05-20-2007, 03:28 AM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] googling seems to confirm that it's a lot of wasted power. They also recommend using a power strip to turn tvs on and off b/c tvs do this too. Pretty sick. [ QUOTE ] VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances MAY all use energy while not in use. You may have noticed how a cell phone recharger can be warm even when not attached to a phone. The best way to prevent unnecessary energy expenditures is to do a clean sweep of your home. [/ QUOTE ] Sounds like a hassle to save about $80/yr [/ QUOTE ] I think that needs to be in there. Anything with a remote will use some power. Obviously anything with an LED on or appliances with clocks will use some power. Battery chargers will use some, but I'm sure it's a lot less than when they are charging. This is clearly true with power tool chargers because you can tell when they are really charging or just on and waiting. Computers? Really? Most don't have LEDs when they are off and don't have remotes and they need a little battery to keep the clock time. [/ QUOTE ] A motherboard will use external power instead of that little battery if it is plugged in, but it will be very tiny amount. All the power guzzling drives, graphics cards, CPUs, and memory chips will all be using no (or a really really tiny amount of) power. I think things like CRTs and non-LCD TVs draw much more power when not in operation because they have to keep the display "warm" so it turns on quickly. However this is just something I have heard and have no idea if any of it is true, especially with more modern technology. 
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#12
05-20-2007, 03:45 AM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
A really basic rule is that if there is a transformer converting alternating current (normal mains power) to direct current (virtually any electronic device), it will draw power regardless of whether the item in question is on or off.
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#13
05-20-2007, 03:46 AM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
[ QUOTE ]
I saw a king of queens episode about this but I don't remember the verdict, sorry. [/ QUOTE ] It was also on Till Death, I also don't remember the verdict.
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#14
05-20-2007, 03:58 AM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
the cell phone charger thing is def. true.
i cant tell if daryn is leveling or not about house lights but if they really use the same whether on or off then my dad has caused himself an insane amt of unneccesary stress over the years of yelling at me and my brothers to turn of the lights when they leave a room.
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#15
05-21-2007, 04:13 PM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] somebody told me that a phone charger that is plugged in uses the same amount of electricity whether or not there's a phone plugged into it. sounds dubious to me. thoughts? [/ QUOTE ] That somebody is wrong. The circuit isn't closed, no juice is being drawn. [/ QUOTE ] Nope, this is wrong. Transformers will draw current regardless of whether the direct current side of it is a closed circuit. There is a simple test, put your hand on the charger plug and see if it is warm. If it is then clearly it's using electricity. [/ QUOTE ] This somewhat correct. A transformer with an open secondary circuit draws very little current. In this case the primary is mostly an inductor. If the primary winding had zero resistance, it would draw no current. Because a real-world primary winding has some resistance, it will draw a very small amount of current. It might add a penny or two to your monthly electric bill. I suppose that if you added up all the cell phone chargers in the world left plugged in when not being used, it would add up to a fairly significant amount of energy, so there is something to be said for unplugging them when not in use, but, seriously, you would probably save more energy in a month by riding the bus once a week, or simply by being careful to turn lights off when you don't need them for a year than in a lifetime of unplugging your cell phone charger when not in use. It is correct that if the charger is warm it is using some electricity.
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#16
05-21-2007, 04:27 PM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
[ QUOTE ]
Computers? Really? Most don't have LEDs when they are off and don't have remotes and they need a little battery to keep the clock time. [/ QUOTE ] The old AT power supplies and motherboards, with the power switch on the AC in, used no power (except battery power for the clock/BIOS battery) when off. The ATX power supplies and motherboards currently in use send some standby power to the motherboard, to which the momentary contact power button is attached, and I believe it also powers the clock and bios, with the battery being used only when the computer is actually unplugged, but I don't think it's more than a watt or two. Some computer power supplies have a rocker switch on the back that powers them completely off. If you want to save energy, there are a lot of more significant things you can do than worry about cell phone chargers and the few watts of standby power your appliances and computer are using when switched off. Insulate your house, plug air leaks, reduce your driving mileage, turn off lights when nobody's in the room. Now the real zealots, I'm sure can tell us what an astronomical amount of power we would save if everybody unplugged everything all the time, but to me, it's just not worth the hassle. I don't want to have to plug in the TV every time I watch it, I want to push the button o the remote. I'll pay the $2 a year for the convenience.
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#19
05-21-2007, 04:44 PM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] i cant tell if daryn is leveling or not about house lights [/ QUOTE ] Check your sarcasm detector. It's broken. [/ QUOTE ] broken sarcasm detectors use more power than functional ones.
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#20
05-21-2007, 04:46 PM
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Re: do phone chargers use electricity when plugged into wall but not p
My fiancee loves to bug me lights being left on. I sent her this email one day and it ticked her off. Is it accurate?
[ QUOTE ] Monthly bill $217.21 KWH used 2,482 Price per KWH: $0.09 KWH = kilowatt hour or 1,000 watts used for one hour Price for hall light (7 60-watt bulbs) to be on for one hour: $0.04 [/ QUOTE ]
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