I Examined Dozens of Gadgets to Discover the Largest ‘Vitality Vampire.’ The Winner Stunned Me

You have doubtless heard about energy vampires — the home equipment, gadgets and different electronics that draw electrical energy even when powered off. Known as standby energy, this leech is usually a vital expense: In keeping with the US Department of Energy, standby energy accounts for five% to 10% of residential power utilization and might value a typical family about $100 per 12 months. 

With that in thoughts, I made a decision to launch an experiment. I ordered a $12 power meter from Amazon and set about gauging the passive energy draw of practically each system and equipment I might plug into it. My mission: to find out which one wastes probably the most power whereas off, and whether or not it is price unplugging the worst offenders. The clear winner stunned me as a result of it was an surprising piece of living-room tech. 

How I examined for vampire power drain 

There have been just a few limitations to the venture, probably the most notable being that I could not take a look at my washer, dryer or oven. These home equipment use massive 240-volt shops, and the facility meter I purchased solely works with customary NEMA 5-15R shops. I additionally wasn’t capable of correctly take a look at my fridge, as a result of there is no solution to energy it down whereas it is plugged in.

That stated, I did take a look at nearly each different system in my home that could possibly be turned off or put right into a sleep or standby mode. I went by means of every room in my home and examined each equipment or system in it, together with the outside LED mild strips I just lately put in.

Widespread family power vampires

I made a decision to check and catalog my outcomes on a room-by-room foundation. All advised, I ended up testing tech in my house workplace, lounge, kitchen, bed room and the sunshine strips outdoors. That is what I discovered.

House workplace

Let’s begin with the lair of among the most outstanding suspects on my record: my house workplace. I do the overwhelming majority of my work and spend a good quantity of my downtime there, and I’ve obtained a reasonably energy-intensive setup that features my desktop PC, laptop computer, a 60-inch TCL tv, alongside an 18-inch monitor. 

As I suspected, there have been some power-hungry gadgets strewn all through my setup. A few of the highest-consuming gadgets in my house have been in my house workplace, together with my custom-built desktop PC, which, whereas absolutely powered down, siphoned off between 1.8 and a pair of watts. When left idling in sleep mode, this spiked to three.1 watts.

The laptop computer was additionally a chief offender. The 2025 model of the Framework 16 laptop drew between 0.5 and 1.3 watts when off and 1.9 watts in sleep mode. Whereas these have been among the highest passive siphons, keep in mind that these figures are nonetheless fairly low. For context, my fridge, whereas working at a medium cooling setting, gulped down 509 watts. 

I used to be stunned by the effectivity of the large 4K 60-inch TCL TV, which confirmed a 0-watt energy draw when plugged into the meter. Curiously, the a lot smaller, 18-inch, 1080p HP Omen monitor did pull down a trickle of power, although solely 0.1 watts. There’s additionally an Echo Dot on my desk, Amazon’s portal to its Alexa sensible assistant, which is at all times passively listening for voice prompts (and to all the things else, in case you take heed to the conspiracy theorists). I wasn’t stunned to search out that the Dot drew a 1.7-watt phantom load even whereas not in lively use.

I additionally maintain my Nintendo Switch in my workplace, and it pulled down a constant 0.8 watts when off and 1.3 watts whereas in sleep mode. These numbers remained the identical whether or not the Change was bodily docked or in handheld mode. I additionally examined my Canon printer, which confirmed a draw of 0.2 watts. 

I used to be pleasantly stunned to find that not one of the chargers in my workplace, whether or not for my cordless vacuum or for USB-C and USB-A gadgets, drew any passive energy by any means.

I additionally examined my router in a few configurations. Whereas absolutely off however plugged in, it confirmed zero watts of draw. After I powered it on and ensured there have been no stay connections from any gadgets, it spiked to 4.3 watts. This determine represents the router’s lively idle energy, not a passive phantom load, so it is not included within the last “vampire power” rating, nevertheless it provides you a way of how a lot energy the router is utilizing even when not related. 

Front room

Second on my hit record was the lounge, which additionally hosts plenty of electronics I suspected could be fairly power-hungry. I’ve one other TV there, so I began with it to see if it might match the zero-watt energy draw of the TCL in my workplace. Sadly, it didn’t. Regardless of being smaller (it is a barely older 50-inch 4K RCA TV), it confirmed a passive energy drain of 0.3 watts. Not huge, however barely disappointing after the TCL’s displaying.

I moved on to the PlayStation 5 console and examined it each in sleep mode and whereas absolutely powered off. When off, it registered a teensy 0.1-watt draw, although that jumped all the best way as much as 1.5 watts whereas in relaxation mode. 

The actual shock right here was the cable field. When you can by no means absolutely flip it off, as there’s at all times a digital clock show and it features a DVR to report scheduled exhibits/movies, there’s a distinct on and off mode. Although I did not anticipate it to attract considerably greater than different electronics in relaxation mode, like the sport consoles or my PCs, it confirmed a (comparatively) huge 19.9-watt draw whereas powered off. 

Other than the aforementioned DVR functionality, that vital phantom load is probably going resulting from being saved in a comparatively high-power state to make sure instant-on capabilities. As a result of we anticipate our TVs to start out displaying a channel nearly instantly after we swap on the cable field, many packing containers are saved in a higher-power state than different gadgets. 

On the other finish of the spectrum, I additionally examined plenty of lamps in the lounge (in addition to all through the home). I attempted customary desk lamps with on/off switches, a bigger ground lamp, in addition to a lamp that has three brightness settings and is touch-activated. Each single lamp, no matter measurement or activation kind, confirmed a zero-watt energy draw.

Kitchen

The kitchen can be considerably of a target-rich setting, given what number of home equipment I’ve plugged in at any given time. Whereas there was a good vary of outcomes, not one of the home equipment I examined confirmed a very excessive drain.

The thirstiest beast in my kitchen turned out to be the microwave, which clocked in at 0.5 watts. Beneath that was my drip coffee maker, coming in at 0.3 watts, and my massive air fryer, at a reasonably scant 0.2 watts. The electric kettle, which I have a tendency to go away plugged in for comfort regardless of not utilizing it that usually, confirmed no passive draw in any respect. 

Most shocking was the full-size, cellular dishwasher I’ve, which plugs into an outlet and attaches on to the sink, however will be rolled across the kitchen on 4 wheels. Purely based mostly on its measurement and capability (and the cacophony it emits whereas working), I anticipated a excessive phantom load, nevertheless it impressed with a 0-watt draw. 

Bed room

Final have been the bedrooms, which do not host a ton of electronics (sleep hygiene is vital, and blue light can ruin your rest). There are some telephone chargers and lamps, none of which confirmed any passive draw. I even have a humidifier in my room, which I examined regardless of not usually leaving it plugged in; it additionally confirmed no passive draw. The spare room is house to an alarm clock, which confirmed zero watts of draw, in addition to an essential oil diffuser that did not draw any energy whereas switched off, both.

Earlier than I wrapped up, I ducked out to check one of many 50-foot LED mild strips I at the moment have put in outdoors. They confirmed a comparatively excessive passive draw of 1.2 watts.

Rating my house’s worst offenders

After some pretty exhaustive testing, the shock “winner” among the many power suckers was the DirecTV cable field. At a passive 19.9 watts, it surpassed each different system by a large margin, as a result of, as talked about above, it is obtained DVR and instant-on capabilities (although to be clear, it wasn’t recording something throughout my take a look at). At 19.9 watts, this implies the field is drawing round 477.6 Watt-hours (Wh) day by day, and 174.3 Kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually. 

So how a lot, roughly, is it costing me yearly? I pay round 16.4 cents per kWH, so if I have been to go away the cable field turned off (with out recording), it might value me a base $27.89 per 12 months for these 174.3 kWh.

Much less shocking was the runner-up, the desktop PC, coming in at 3.1 watts whereas in sleep mode (and between 1.8 and a pair of watts whereas absolutely powered off). What was shocking have been among the zero-watt home equipment, particularly the large cellular dishwasher, and my 60-inch TCL flatscreen TV.

Here is the entire record, from highest to lowest draw:

Which power vampires are literally price slaying?

The unlucky actuality is that lots of gadgets want to remain plugged in even when not in lively use, not less than in case you worth comfort over some comparatively modest financial savings. That features my worst offender, the cable field. Unplugging it means it could possibly’t report scheduled exhibits or motion pictures, and it additionally has to undergo a prolonged, annoying boot cycle each time. That ends in a 5- to 10-minute delay — not one thing I am keen to take a seat by means of every time I wish to watch TV in the lounge. Issues like fridges, many sensible home equipment and routers additionally want to remain related — for higher or for worse.

Nonetheless, there are a number of methods you may save on energy bills with out severely disrupting your day by day routine. For one, chances are you’ll wish to take into account absolutely powering off issues like recreation consoles and PCs relatively than leaving them in a state of everlasting slumber. That is very true of older consoles or ones that you do not use steadily or, in case you have each a desktop and laptop computer however discover you do not use one or the opposite very steadily, take into account powering all of it the best way down.

Different huge vampires that I do not personally personal are older AV receivers and antiquated printers, which notoriously aren’t nice at regulating energy utilization. Older gadgets usually must be excessive in your record, and you might also wish to consider unplugging any kitchen home equipment that do not actually must be continuously feeding off the grid. Do you actually need your microwave to let you know what time it’s?

You too can shave off some utilization by turning off instant-on options in consoles and TVs the place potential, or make use of sensible plugs with scheduling for leisure facilities. Energy strips with remote on/off functionality are additionally an important selection, and changing older home equipment with newer, more efficient models can result in vital financial savings over time. As my experiment exhibits, power vampires are actual, however not all of them drain energy to the identical diploma.