Your TV uses more power when its turned off?

[rudeguy]

Thats what the video says

phantom load?is the way electronic devices use up power when they?re plugged in, even if they?re turned off.

How can a TV possibly use more juice when its turned off?

 

[Crusty]

It all depends what they are measuring.

 

[CrazyLazy]

From the sentence you quoted it never says they use more power, just that they are still consuming some electricity.

 

[Snapster]

More juice than if the device was unplugged yes, but more than being on no.

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
From the sentence you quoted it never says they use more power, just that they are still consuming some electricity.

It says it in the video.

 

[PottedMeat]

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

 

[Eli]

It doesn't, thats a load of bullsh!t.

However, a staggering number of electronic devices do use 1-5W while "off".

A CRT TV draws the most power with the volume all the way up, displaying a white screen.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Eli
It doesn't, thats a load of bullsh!t.

However, a staggering number of electronic devices do use 1-5W while "off".

A CRT TV draws the most power with the volume all the way up, displaying a white screen.

That's what I was thinking. I know a little about electronics and have never heard that before.

So you think its just hippie talk?

 

[PottedMeat]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

Thats fucked up. There's no reason a toaster should draw any power until the lever goes down.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
From the sentence you quoted it never says they use more power, just that they are still consuming some electricity.

It says it in the video.

I suspect they are referencing models that show that the daily phantom load for many devices is greater than their in use load (e.g. you watch tv 2 hours a day, the 22 hour phantom load is more than the 2 hours of usage)

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

Thats fucked up. There's no reason a toaster should draw any power until the lever goes down.

Yeah.

Same thing goes for just about everything that you plug in, though. Microwave, DVD player, stereo.. just about everything, really.

It seems like I added up all the standby wattage in the house once, and it was like 20W.

20W * 24hrs/day = 0.480kWh/day.

Or about 14kWh/mo. Or about $1.40 at $0.10/kWh.

Meh.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

Thats fucked up. There's no reason a toaster should draw any power until the lever goes down.

Then dont buy one with electronic controls

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
From the sentence you quoted it never says they use more power, just that they are still consuming some electricity.

It says it in the video.

I suspect they are referencing models that show that the daily phantom load for many devices is greater than their in use load (e.g. you watch tv 2 hours a day, the 22 hour phantom load is more than the 2 hours of usage)

I see. So we can't justify being on the computer all day by saying we are trying to save money?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
From the sentence you quoted it never says they use more power, just that they are still consuming some electricity.

It says it in the video.

I suspect they are referencing models that show that the daily phantom load for many devices is greater than their in use load (e.g. you watch tv 2 hours a day, the 22 hour phantom load is more than the 2 hours of usage)

I see. So we can't justify being on the computer all day by saying we are trying to save money?

Apparently you don't see. If the usage went up that model would be wrong, it presumes a limited amount of usage per day (albeit, the way they say it in the video would make someone think that....)

 

[PottedMeat]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

Thats fucked up. There's no reason a toaster should draw any power until the lever goes down.

Then dont buy one with electronic controls

Even with electronic controls it shouldn't be on until you use it. I mean whats it doing in the meantime - analyzing the humidity and current temperature for perfect toast? Having some sort of standby mode and sensors I would think adds more components / complexity and would cut into an already cheap product.

I can understand a wall wart or cell charger or stereo using small amounts of power... but a damn toaster?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

What the hell toaster uses power when its not 'toasting'? Are they integrating clocks or something into them now?

My toaster uses 4W while just sitting there.

It's a fairly normal toaster, but I guess it does have some electronics in there. It has Bagel and Toast buttons, and instead of popping the lever up, you push a cancel button.. lol

Thats fucked up. There's no reason a toaster should draw any power until the lever goes down.

Then dont buy one with electronic controls

Even with electronic controls it shouldn't be on until you use it. I mean whats it doing in the meantime - analyzing the humidity and current temperature for perfect toast? Having some sort of standby mode and sensors I would think adds more components / complexity and would cut into an already cheap product.

I can understand a wall wart or cell charger or stereo using small amounts of power... but a damn toaster?

It has indicator lights and stuff... Shrug.

My 4W figure may be off too, I don't really remember.. but it was at least 1 or 2.

 

[bsobel]

Even with electronic controls it shouldn't be on until you use it. I mean whats it doing in the meantime - analyzing the humidity and current temperature for perfect toast? Having some sort of standby mode and sensors I would think adds more components / complexity and would cut into an already cheap product.

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=573064 Its waiting for user input and updating the LCD...

 

[invidia]

My car uses more gas with the engine turned off than when the engine is running.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: invidia
My car uses more gas with the engine turned off than when the engine is running.

It might if there was a fuel system leak which was worse when not moving or flowing, for some reason.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Even with electronic controls it shouldn't be on until you use it. I mean whats it doing in the meantime - analyzing the humidity and current temperature for perfect toast? Having some sort of standby mode and sensors I would think adds more components / complexity and would cut into an already cheap product.

I can understand a wall wart or cell charger or stereo using small amounts of power... but a damn toaster?

The electronics are presumably DC-powered, which means they need an adapter. So that will waste some power. And given that the device is wall-powered rather than battery-powered, the people designing it may have opted to let the microcontroller run full-tilt all the time, rather than putting it to sleep when idle. It wastes power, but it's easier.

 

[imported_Imp]

Maybe... if you watch 1 hour of TV a day and let it run on standby for the other 23. Me, it's at least 8 hours daily plus 16 standby, so no way.

 

[duragezic]

I thought this was called parasitic load?

Yeah I have all of my devices next to my desk on a power strip that I usually turn off at night. I used to only turn my computer off while sleeping or at work, but I figure I may as well eliminate the waste completely. I think a computer off but the PSU switch on still uses a minor amount, plus cable modem and other things.

Dang bill was $56 last month as it is, and my apartment is basically empty still except for a computer on about 4 hours per day. I don't really cook either.

Also, even in recent times I always see electricity KWh given as $0.10/Kwh. I understand it varies and the $0.10 is a simple round number, but I don't think I've ever paid that little, not since I moved on my own 4 years ago. In NY now, I forgot, but it's probably $0.15/KWh.

 

[Special K]

I'm tempted to buy a Kill-A-Watt and measure everything so I know for sure which devices are wasting power and which ones aren't.

Does anyone else own one of these? They look like really useful gadgets.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: Special K
I'm tempted to buy a Kill-A-Watt and measure everything so I know for sure which devices are wasting power and which ones aren't.

Does anyone else own one of these? They look like really useful gadgets.

Sounds like a cool device and pretty useful. Gotta look into it myself now...

I bought an $80 SPL meter last summer out of curiosity. Haven't once used it to tune my stereo, but I know how loud everything is now.