ENERGENIE-new toy and some electrical questions.

[mart]

I’ve got one of them devices (Energenie) that amongst other read-outs will measure watts being drawn by the appliance. I’m not really surprised at how much power each appliance uses. We all know that anything that gets hot (kettles, fires, irons toaster etc is going to drag the juice).

I was surprised though that even when the 32`` LCD flat screen Panasonic TV is totally off (not on standby) there is still 0.8w being consumed somewhere/somehow. Very low wattage when in use though at just 56watts
.
The old 600w microwave is dragging 1322watts. Maybe Toshiba forget to allow for or calculate the power consumption of the turntable & fan (I assume there’s a fan). But like the TV, the microwave is using 4.9w when totally off-no clock-no display of any kind, nothing.

The power consumption of the radio, on very low volume was negligible. Got a bit of a shock when I turned it up…......….SPICE GIRLS!!. The power consumption was still not worth mentioning though.

When the electrical appliance(s) are unplugged from the Energenie device, the power consumption display is zero as expected.

I’m sure that as usual on here the electrical engineers will be along soon with some professional advice and to explain these anomalies.

 

[eSCHEn]

Got a bit of a shock when I turned it up…......….SPICE GIRLS!!

You sir, owe me a fresh cup of tea!

 

[dannyp]

usage when it's off will most likely be down to a transformer in its power supply. some are very lossy things , old plug top powersupplys are normaly the worst offenders % wise for usefull enigner in v's out or there idel consumption

 

[mart]

usage when it's off will most likely be down to a transformer in its power supply. some are very lossy things , old plug top powersupplys are normaly the worst offenders % wise for usefull enigner in v's out or there idel consumption

What is a "plugtop power supply". Cannot understand the bit in bold above.

 

[MattF]

Unless a device has a mechanical on/off switch, you'll always find some minimal amount of current draw when something is turned 'off'.

 

[mart]

I didn`t know that Matt.
There may be some logic to the thinking of these wives & partners that go around flicking the switches off before bedtime. I suppose there is an element of safety, but it is not something I`ve ever done.

 

[rtbcomp]

I did a similar exercise. The PC came as the biggest surprise. There are live circuits inside even when it's not switched on.

 

[Fintray]

That 0.8w is so that when you sit your **** down in front of it you can press a button and the TV will come on; the 60w for the microwave is the power the magnetron emits not, the power consumed.

 

[Kayos]

I did a similar exercise. The PC came as the biggest surprise. There are live circuits inside even when it's not switched on.

I can charge a phone via a USB port on my desktop even with the switch on the back of the psu off!

 

[Fazerruss]

Can't remember who it was recently but a big company with call centres banned employees from using phone chargers at work. The staff were leaving them plugged in and the said company worked out it was costing a fortune in wasted leccy.
My wife often leaves the living room light on when she leaves the house. There are five bloody bulbs in each fitting, how can she not notice that!!!

 

[Robotstar5]

Mrs Robo often leaves up to 4 "wall wart" plug top chargers plugged in with nothing connected, I've given up trying to explain energy saving to her.
Her answer to filling the kettle instead of just putting enough required in is it will boil quicker next time (2 hours later), her favourite is switching on lounge TV then going and doing something elsewhere

 

[pedrobedro]

I did a similar exercise. The PC came as the biggest surprise. There are live circuits inside even when it's not switched on.

I can charge my phone off the PC USB when it is shut down but not when the PSU is switched off. My brother in law always used to switch everything off at the wall whenever he went out for more than 20 minutes.

 

[julianf]

Someone told me the other day that the mains sine wave is actually becoming distorted (the top is being smoothed off) buy all the millions of little switch mode power supplies that draw current on the peaks only.

I dont know beyond what i was told, but it certainly seems feasible.

 

[500e]

Mart you hit on one of the causes
.
There may be some logic to the thinking of these wives & partners that go around flicking the switches off before bedtime. I suppose there is an element of safety, but it is not something Ive ever done.
The soft switching relies on logic.

 

[Robotstar5]

Someone told me the other day that the mains sine wave is actually becoming distorted (the top is being smoothed off) buy all the millions of little switch mode power supplies that draw current on the peaks only.

I dont know beyond what i was told, but it certainly seems feasible.

They are definitely causing problems with excess neutral currents which is starting to produce brownouts in some areas as SMPS hadn't been invented when most of the power infrastructure was installed.

 

[rikrobson]

Appliances are in "stand by" mode and not "off". This meanss that the power is still in the PSU and providing current to the little red light and the infra red eye.

 

[normspanners]

There are five bloody bulbs in each fitting, how can she not notice that!!!

I came in the other day and the lads had left 'just a few' lights on--- 'what you moanin at' -------22 bulbs-------- in the daytime !!!

 

[Fintray]

Google "One-Watt Initiative" to get some idea of the global impact of all these devices in standby mode.

 

[Cyberprog]

I’ve got one of them devices (Energenie) that amongst other read-outs will measure watts being drawn by the appliance. I’m not really surprised at how much power each appliance uses. We all know that anything that gets hot (kettles, fires, irons toaster etc is going to drag the juice).

They aren't 100% accurate mind. That 0.8w reading may be way off!

The old 600w microwave is dragging 1322watts. Maybe Toshiba forget to allow for or calculate the power consumption of the turntable & fan (I assume there’s a fan). But like the TV, the microwave is using 4.9w when totally off-no clock-no display of any kind, nothing.

You're confusing input power with output power here. 1322W input equals 600W of microwave energy out. Pretty inefficent actually. Less than 50% efficency seems to be the norm, though I think some newer ones use inverter designs that may be more power efficent compared to older magnetic ballast designs.

 

[julianthegypsy]

My dad always went round last thing at night unplugging everything, but that wasn't so much energy saving as growing up in anancient apartment block with a six inch nail for the main fuse!