Does a phone charger use energy if its plugged in to outlet, but not plugged into phone?

Question

This question applies to other charging devices as well, say for toys/ rc chargers, camera etc. I just went to unplug one and it was warm to the touch but didn't have the phone hooked up to it.

Answer 1

Okay so this first guy assumes there is some magical path for electrons to follow in a phone charger. Energy isn't used until electrons flow, electrons don't flow until the phone is plugged in. UNLESS your charger has an indicator light on it, you plug it in and the light comes on, you're using that tiny bit of energy.

Electronic hobbyist for many years.

Answer 2

YES :) Anything plugged into an outlet uses energy. The electric companies say unplugging anything you are not using, reduces your electric bill 10-20%. Unplug all those chargers and save yourself some cash.  When my family first learned this fact, we compared that month's bill (all small chargers/appliances unplugged) to the previous months bill and it actually had saved us $27.00 in one month. Our savings went up even more the second month because we read about vacuuming the coils underneath and on the back of our fridge. Our savings at that point $35.00 a month. Every little bit helps :) Give it a try.

Answer 3

when you plug a phone charger, and let the phone charge, there is energy for charging it, but if you plug a charger into the outlet, without the phone, i dont thin it can get charged, you need the phone plugged in..

Answer 4

Any electrical appliance that is plugged in still uses a small amount of electricity wether it is ON or OFF.