What is the consumption of power by device chargers if left plugged in but not charging a device?

Question

I have many electronic devices and cordless tools that have chargers. If I left the chargers plugged in when not charging devices, how much power if any is being consumed?

Answer 1

Yes, these chargers use a small amount of power when they are plugged in, even if they aren't attached to whatever it is that they are supposed to power.   It is a small amount (perhaps 5 watts) each.   To get an idea of what that might cost you, you are billed by the kilowatt-hour, or kWh.   One kilowatt hour is one watt that is used for 1000 hours, or 1000 watts that is used for one hour.  There are about 725 hours in a month, so 5 watts would use about 3.5 kWh, or somewhere between 25 and 40 cents each month.

To find out more about other things in your house that use energy when you aren't using them, check out the website below.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Any power being used is so small that it could not be measured by your electric meter. I once tried to see how much power all those kinds of things in my house used, and the meter TOTALLY STOPPED when I just turned everything off without unplugging anything. I know there were items using power, because the clocks on the oven, thermostat, sprinkler timer and microwave kept ticking. And the phone chargers were plugged in and the modem was flashing its lights and so was the router, and the computers and TVs were all plugged in and the lights on the alarm system control panel were on. But still, with the porch light on the meter turned VERY slowly and when I turned off the porch light the meter TOTALLY stopped. So if all that stuff IS using power, it must be an extremely small amount.

Answer 3

Some devices don't have a limiter to reduce voltage when your device is fully charged. If they provide full power it will add a little to your light bill, but more importantly it could damage your device. Check the instructions for each device.