Short answer: electronics and appliances that draw power while “off” account for 5-10% of an average home’s energy use, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and can add more than $100 a year to your bill, per the Department of Energy (both cited by PBS NewsHour). The fix is cheap: find the biggest idle loads and put them on switches or timers.
What phantom power is
Many devices never fully turn off. They keep clocks running, listen for remotes, stay connected to Wi-Fi, or keep a power supply warm. Each draw is small, but it runs 8,760 hours a year.
The math: small watts, big hours
| Constant idle load | kWh per year | Cost per year at 18.2¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 5 W | 44 | about $8 |
| 25 W | 219 | about $40 |
| 50 W | 438 | about $80 |
| 100 W | 876 | about $159 |
kWh = watts × 8,760 hours ÷ 1,000. Price: EIA’s 2026 forecast average (EIA).
Usual suspects
- Cable and satellite boxes, especially DVR models that stay busy.
- Game consoles in “instant-on” or “rest” modes.
- Desktop computers that never sleep, plus monitors, speakers and printers.
- TVs and soundbars with quick-start features.
- Old second fridges or freezers (not phantom, but a constant load people forget).
- Chargers, smart speakers and plug-in adapters, a few watts each.
How to find yours in one evening
- Buy a plug-in energy meter (about $20-30). Plug each device in and read the watts while it’s “off”.
- Check your smart meter data. Your lowest hourly use at 3 a.m. is your home’s always-on baseline. Compare it with the table above to see what it costs you.
- Flip breakers one at a time (with a helper reading the meter app) to see which circuit carries the baseline.
Easy fixes
- Power strips with a switch for TV and gaming setups; flip off at bedtime.
- Smart or “advanced” power strips that cut accessories when the main device turns off.
- Change console settings to energy-saving mode instead of instant-on.
- Turn on sleep settings for computers and monitors.
- Ask your TV provider about lower-power boxes, or drop boxes you no longer use.
- Unplug the garage fridge if it holds a few drinks.
Leave essentials alone: router (if you rely on it), medical devices, security systems and anything that needs to stay programmed.
Is it worth the effort?
Cutting a 50 W baseline by half saves about $40 a year for a one-time cost of a power strip or two. It won’t match air sealing and insulation for impact, but it’s one of the few savings that takes minutes. For a full picture of where electricity goes, see which appliances use the most electricity.
FAQ
Do chargers use power with nothing attached? Modern ones use very little, often well under a watt, but older adapters can use more.
Is “standby” the same as “off”? Not always. If a device has a remote or a glowing light, it’s using some power.