Standby Power Home Page

A surprisingly large number of electrical products -- from air conditioners to VCRs -- cannot be switched off completely without being unplugged. These products draw power 24 hours a day, often without the knowledge of the consumer. We call this power consumption "standby power."

In particularly inefficient designs, the standby power use can be as high as 15 or 20 watts. For a single appliance, this may not seem like much, but when we add up the power use of the billions of appliances in the U.S., the power consumption of appliances that are not being used is substantial.

This website presents information on standby power and technologies to reduce it. We welcome your comments and contributions.

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12/09/02 October 2002 Research Recommendations to Reduce Standby Power. Read LBNL's research recommendations to the California Energy Commission regarding strategies to reduce standby power. This document also introduces the term "lopomo," (from LOw POwer MOdes).

12/05/02 Australia releases official policy to reduce standby power. The strategy includes the implementation of a "One Watt" standby target for appliances, which has the potential to save the average individual household up to $100 per annum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See the press release and strategy for details.

10/04/02 Standby Power at the ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. View presentations and papers from the ACEEE conference held on August 19 - 23, 2002, in Pacific Grove, CA. Includes general discussions and reports on standby power from around the world.

7/11/02 Workshop on Standby Power sponsored by the California Energy Commission. August 26, 2002. What is the most effective strategy to reduce standby power use in California?

5/31/02 Low-Standby Power Supplies See the new Energy Efficiency brochure published by Power Integrations, Inc., which includes no-load and standby energy efficiency of several low-standby power supply boards.

2/19/02 DEFINING STANDBY POWER AND HOW TO MEASURE IT
Several groups have recently created definitions and test procedures for standby power. In the international arena, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has at least three separate activities underway. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy has established a measurement guideline for standby. This guideline is used by manufacturers seeking to comply with President Bush's Executive Order.

1/18/02 FEMP -- See the test procedure for measuring standby power, as recommeded by FEMP.

9/5/01 JAPANESE STANDBY DATA -- See standby data for the most efficient Japanese TVs and VCRs. The Energy Conservation Center displays conservation data for consumer electronics, washing machines and other appliances at this site.

7/31/01 1-WATT EXECUTIVE ORDER -- President Bush signs an executive order to limit standby power to one watt in electrical products purchased by government agencies.

6/1/01 BIAS POWER -- BIAS introduces a new 1/2 watt power supply with 50%+ efficiency