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Standby power is the power consumed by an appliance or device when the device is not in use but is ready to be rapidly put into use.
Standby power is also called vampire draw, vampire power, phantom load or leaking electricity.
Techopedia Explains Standby Power
Many of today’s appliances and devices use standby power. Some common examples include television sets, computers, computer peripherals, cordless telephones and uninterruptible power supplies . Because these appliances consume power when not in use, the only way to be sure no power is being consumed is by unplugging them from the utility outlet.
When added together, the total watts used by such appliances and devices may be 100 or 200 watts. Although this seems small, this energy consumption has far-reaching implications both economically and environmentally when it is multiplied over hundreds of thousands of households over many years.
Studies in the United States, Europe and a number of other developed countries have shown that standby power consumption averages between 10 and 13 percent of total power consumption. As a result, the U.S. government, state governments and the governments of developed foreign countries have limited allowable standby power consumption rates for each device to between 0.5 and 1 watt.
To reduce energy consumption, users can unplug standby devices when they are not being used.
