Standby power and phantom load: what's worth unplugging

A device in standby is waiting for something: a remote signal, a scheduled update, a network wake-up, a button press. To wait, it keeps part of its electronics powered. That draw is called standby power, phantom load or vampire power.

Most modern devices have cut it to a watt or two. A few categories still draw much more, because they keep a tuner, a hard drive or a network connection alive so they can start instantly or download updates overnight. The difference between "off" and "really off" is often a single setting.

It helps to separate three groups:

• True standby. TVs, microwaves, coffee makers, printers: waiting for a button, with a clock or a light on. Usually 1 to 4 W.
• Network standby. Cable and satellite boxes, game consoles in "instant on" mode, some soundbars and smart TVs: they stay connected. Often 5 to 25 W.
• Always on by design. Wi-Fi routers, modems, smart speakers, security cameras. These aren't in standby at all; they are working. They belong in your always-on total, but unplugging them is not the answer.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) keeps a database of measured standby power for household devices. Our standby power calculator starts from these typical values, which you can change if you've measured your own:

Device	Standby watts	kWh / year	US average	California	Louisiana
Cable or satellite box	15	131	$23.86	$39.09	$16.91
Game console (instant on)	10	88	$15.91	$26.06	$11.27
Soundbar	5	44	$7.95	$13.03	$5.64
Printer	4	35	$6.36	$10.42	$4.51
Desktop computer (off or asleep)	3	26	$4.77	$7.82	$3.38
Microwave (clock)	3	26	$4.77	$7.82	$3.38
Phone chargers left plugged in	2	18	$3.18	$5.21	$2.25
TV	1	9	$1.59	$2.61	$1.13
Coffee maker	1	9	$1.59	$2.61	$1.13
All nine	44	385	$70.00	$114.67	$49.61

Costs per year, energy only. Rates: US 18.2¢/kWh, California 29.8¢/kWh, Louisiana 12.9¢/kWh (EIA, August 2026).

The rule of thumb behind the table: 1 W running all year is 8.76 kWh, which is $1.59 at the US average rate. Multiply by the watts of any device to price its standby.

The nine devices above add up to 44 W, around the clock: 385 kWh a year, about 32 kWh a month. At the US average that is $5.81 a month against an average bill of $140.00. Real, but not the reason most bills are high: the appliance ranking shows that heating, cooling and water heating are each ten times larger or more.

Your own number can be lower or higher. A home with no cable box and a console set to energy-saving mode may sit near 15 W. A home with two cable boxes, two consoles, a few soundbars and older electronics in several rooms can pass 100 W, which is 876 kWh a year: $159.08 at the US average, $260.61 in California.

Remember the always-on group too. A router, a modem and a couple of smart speakers run every hour of the year. They are not waste, but they do add to the baseline you see on a bill with nothing else running.

Take a cable box drawing 15 W in standby, off for 18 hours a day. Cutting power during those hours saves 15 W × 18 h × 365 = 98.6 kWh a year. That is $17.91 at the US average rate, $29.33 in California and $12.69 in Louisiana. Compare that with the price of a smart plug or a switched power strip: at most rates, the box saves more than a basic one costs within a year or two, and faster in high-rate states.

Now try the same with a TV that draws 1 W in standby. Eighteen hours a day of savings is 6.6 kWh a year: $1.20 at the US average. The plug would take many years to pay back, and it draws a little power itself.

So the decision comes down to watts. At 10 W or more, cutting power is worth it. At 1 to 3 W, it rarely is, unless a single switched strip cuts several devices at once.

Two cautions before you cut power to a box: some cable and satellite boxes take several minutes to restart and download their program guide, and some may need power overnight to receive updates. If that annoys you enough that you stop using the plug, the saving is zero.

Worth it:

• Cable and satellite boxes, especially a second box in a room you rarely use. Ask your provider whether a smaller box or a streaming app could replace it.
• Game consoles in "instant on" or "rest" mode. Current consoles have an energy-saving power mode in their settings. Switching it on costs nothing and removes most of the standby draw.
• Entertainment centers on one strip. TV, soundbar, console and streaming stick turned off with one switch.
• Old electronics in a spare room or garage: stereos, old TVs, a second fridge. The fridge is not standby, but it is the biggest always-on load most homes forget.

Not worth the effort:

• Phone chargers with nothing attached. Our calculator counts about 2 W for a household's chargers together: $3.18 a year at the US average.
• Microwave and oven clocks. A few dollars a year at most rates.
• Anything you would have to reset every time. Thermostats, routers, alarm systems, medical devices and refrigerators should stay on.

Labels and spec sheets give maximum power, not standby. To know what a device draws while off, use a plug-in power meter: plug the device into it, switch the device off with its remote, wait a minute and read the watts. Do it for the entertainment center as a whole by plugging the power strip into the meter.

Another way to see your whole-home baseline is your utility's hourly usage data, if your meter is a smart meter. The lowest hour of the night, with no heating or cooling running, is roughly your always-on load: standby, network gear, refrigerator cycles. If it is far above your standby total plus a refrigerator, something is running that you haven't counted, and it is worth finding.

• Standby power calculator: your devices, their standby watts and the yearly cost at your state's rate.
• Electric bill estimator: add your standby total next to your other appliances.
• Gaming PC cost: idle watts included, the biggest "on but doing nothing" load in many homes.
• LED savings calculator: the other small change that adds up.