Whole-House Measurements of Standby Power Consumption

Abstract

We investigated the variation in standby power consumption in ten California homes. Total standby power in the homes ranged from 14-169W, with an average of 67 W. This corresponded to 5 percent-26 percent of the homes' annual electricity use. The appliances with the largest standby losses were televisions, set-top boxes and printers. The large variation in the standby power of appliances providing the same service demonstrates that manufacturers are able to reduce standby losses without degrading performance. Replacing existing units with appliances with 1 W or less of standby power would reduce standby losses by 68 percent.