Northern Virginia Home Energy Assessments  703-912-4710  703-328-4057 Serving the DC METRO area since 1998   Doing Energy assessments to save you money and fix your problems

Phantom Power

We get this question all the time

I've heard several times that microwaves ovens use electricity even when they're off. Is that true?

And the answer is, "It Depends. No device uses a lot of electricity when it's off, but some devices like microwaves, can draw a small amount to power the time display. Devices which run off transformers also draw a small amount of power.

Lots of things in your home use energy even when they're turned off. They use only a fraction of the energy that they would use when they're "on" and running, but they still use some energy nevertheless. There are some reasons for this:

• Clocks. If a devices has a clock running, you are using energy. Just a little, but some energy. Check out our Clock vs. Microwave page for some info on this subject
• Remote Control. Most TV's and cable boxes have to be using some power to receive the signal from a remote control that tells it to turn "on".
• Standby Power. Devices like VCR's have clocks and little computers to turn them on and off automatically at specified times.  TV's with the 'Instant On' feature are using power to run everything but the Picture Tube.
• Transformers. Transformers are those cube-like adapters that power some small devices like answering machines, cordless phones, and many computer accessories.

So what can you do about this?

If you're like most people, you have a dozen or so transformers and devices which use standby power / remote control  plugged in around your home, constantly using small amounts of energy.

What can you do? Well, you could unplug them when you're not using them, but that's inconvenient to say the least. 

A better solution is to put these devices on a power strip, and use the switch to turn them on and off. Of course, you'll lose the clock and the programmability of your microwave oven and cable box.