Reducing Standby Power

The One Watt Initiative was launched by the International Energy Agency in 1999, proposing that by 2010 all new appliances would use at most one watt in standby mode. According to the federal environment department, Australian state and federal government endorsed the One -Watt program in 2000. But it doesn't appear that any state or federal agencies have done anything to implement the program.

Standby power, also called vampire power, refers to the electricity consumed by many domestic appliances when they are switched off or in standby mode. The typical power loss per appliance is low (from 1 to 25 W) but when multiplied by the billions of appliances in houses and in commercial buildings, standby losses represent a significant fraction of total world electricity use. ...

The IEA estimates that standby produces 1% of the world's CO₂ emissions ...

^From: One Watt Initiative, Wikipedia, 04:14, 17 July 2007.

The measurement of standby power is a complex technical issue and the IEC have issued a standard for it:

Specifies methods of measurement of electrical power consumption in standby mode. It is applicable to mains powered electrical household appliances and to the mains powered parts of appliances that use other fuels such as gas or oil. This standard does not specify safety requirements. It does not specify minimum performance requirements nor does it set maximum limits on power or energy consumption. ...

From: IEC 62301 Ed. 1.0 Household electrical appliances - Measurement of standby power, TC: 59 - PERFORMANCE OF HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES, IEC, 2005-06-13

See also:

• Books on Energy Saving