How to Monitor Standby Power Usage

Many electronic devices that appear to be off are actually in a standby mode that still uses electricity.

Many electronic devices consume power even when they are not turned on. This type of power consumption, called standby power consumption, quickly adds up when you have multiple electronic devices in standby mode. To monitor the standby power consumption of an electronic device in your house, you must plug that device into a watt per hour meter while the electronic device is in standby mode and monitor how much power it uses.

Things You'll Need

• Watt per hour meter

Instructions

1. Purchase a watt per hour electricity meter. These can be purchased at any hardware store or online at hardware retailer websites. The P3 International Kill A Watt, Watts Up Pro meter and Belkin Conserve Insight are three of the watt per hour meters sold both in stores and by online retailers.

2. Unplug the electrical device whose standby power usage you want to measure.

3. Plug the watt per hour meter into the power source.

4. Plug the device into the power socket on the front of the watt per hour meter.

5. Read the display with the device in standby mode. The number on the screen is the number of watts the device is using in standby mode at that moment.

References

• Michael Bluejay: How do I measure the amount of electricity something uses?

Resources

• P3 International: Kill A Watt
• Watts Up Meters: Watts Up Pro
• Belkin: Conserve Insight