What Appliances Use The Most Electricity When Turned Off? | Power Myths Busted

Many homes pay for electricity that nobody enjoys. The draw has names like standby, phantom, and vampire power. The U.S. Department of Energy says these loads can reach 5%–10% of a home’s use and roughly $100 a year for the average household. You’ll spot the signs: tiny LEDs, instant-on modes, voice listeners, network links, clocks, and chargers that feel warm. The aim here is simple: learn which appliances sip the most when “off,” what to do about it, and when leaving things plugged in still makes sense.

Appliances that use electricity when turned off: the quick tour

Not every device on this list is wasteful in every home. Your model, settings, and plug-in habits set the outcome. Still, patterns show up across measurements from labs and field audits, including work by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the NRDC home idle load study. Use the table as a map, then confirm with a plug-in meter.

Set-top boxes and streaming gear

Boxes from cable and satellite companies often sit near the top of any idle list. Field audits report double-digit watts around the clock for older DVRs and some current models. The NRDC sample found around 16 watts for boxes not in active use. App-based streaming sticks usually fare better, yet many still keep a few watts flowing to stay ready and updated.

Game consoles and instant-on modes

Modern consoles ship with quick-resume features that keep parts of the system awake. That perks up the user experience, though it can leave a 10–30 watt tail. Energy-saving settings knock that down, and a full shutdown trims it further. The tradeoff is longer boot time and update delays.

Routers, modems, and mesh kits

Network gear never naps. Radios, processors, and switching keep humming because your phones, thermostats, and cameras depend on them. If you want a smaller baseline, prune old extras: bridge the modem and router if you run both without needing them, retire unused extenders, and disable seldom-used guest networks.

Televisions and sound systems

Standby draw on TVs spans a wide range. Newer ENERGY STAR models sit under a watt with low-power network standby enabled, while older sets and some add-on voice or HDMI-CEC features can push standby into multi-watt territory. Soundbars and AV receivers add their own idle budgets for auto-wake, Bluetooth watch, and input sensing.

Computers, monitors, and printers

Desktops tend to sip more at rest than laptops because of internal power supplies and wake-on-LAN. Monitors and printers sleep, yet many keep a modest heartbeat so they can spring to life. A lot of the loss lives in external bricks that stay warm even with devices powered down.

Smart speakers and hubs

Always-listening mics and local processing keep these devices on the line at a few watts, day and night. The number climbs with displays and smart clocks. One device at that level isn’t a budget buster; a cluster in every room adds up.

Which appliances use the most power when off at the wall

Lists vary by home, yet the usual leaders show up again and again in field studies. Use this ranking as a starting point, then measure your own setup so you know for sure.

Likely top five in many homes

• Set-top box or DVR: often 8–18 W on standby, climbing with multi-room or paired gear.
• Game console in instant-on: 10–30 W when “off,” unless you choose energy-saving or full shutdown.
• Router plus modem: together often 10–25 W, since they never sleep.
• Television with network standby: anywhere from under 1 W to double digits on older sets with quick-start or voice features.
• Desktop PC tower: a few watts to near 10 W with wake features and USB charging enabled.

Why these devices sit near the top

They stay connected, listen for commands, and cache updates. That convenience needs power for radios, memory, and tiny processors. Lab groups including Berkeley Lab confirm that “any product with electronics may consume power in standby.” The point isn’t to ditch everything; it’s to shrink the always-on budget where comfort and needs allow.

Taking control: practical steps that actually stick

The fastest wins come from bundling devices that can sleep together and flipping them off with one switch. That can be dumb or smart: a basic surge strip, a smart plug on a timer, or a master-controlled strip that cuts power to the TV’s friends when the TV goes dark. The DOE’s Energy Saver team lists power strips and unplugging as two quick moves to trim standby.

Set power modes on the gear you keep on

Pick energy-saving modes on consoles and TVs. Turn off quick-start features you don’t need, and disable wake-on-LAN on desktops that don’t serve files at night. Lower the brightness on clocks and turn off status LEDs where possible. Small tweaks across many devices shave real watt-hours.

Right-size the network core

Run a single combo gateway if it meets your speed and coverage needs, or a lean router plus modem if you prefer a split setup for control. Place the gateway high and central so you don’t need extra extenders. Update firmware; some vendors ship better sleep behavior over time.

Group by “must stay on” vs “nice to have on”

Always on: modem/router, medical gear, sump pumps, smoke and CO alarms, smart locks. Switchable: TV sidekicks, consoles, speakers, printers, hobby chargers, shop tools with clocks. Label two strips accordingly so guests and kids know which is which.

Measuring and verifying your always-on load

A $25–$50 plug-in meter tells the truth. Plug a device into the meter, read watts, then let it sit for a day so you catch sleep cycles. To turn watts into annual use, multiply by 24 hours × 365 days, then divide by 1000 to get kWh. The Energy Saver page on estimating appliance energy use walks through the math and shows where to find wattage on labels.

Sample math you can copy

If a set-top box idles at 15 W: 15 × 24 × 365 ÷ 1000 = 131.4 kWh per year. At a utility price of $0.15/kWh, that’s about $19.71. Two boxes? Double it.

What not to switch off

Leave fridges, freezers, medical devices, sump pumps, smoke and CO alarms plugged in at all times. If you use a DVR that records while you sleep, plan your strip so it keeps power on during recording windows.

Cut standby use on the worst offenders

The table below pairs common devices with actions that trim their always-on draw. Annual savings are estimates based on typical standby watt cuts, applied 24/7 for a year. Your rate and actual watts decide the final number.

Appliances using electricity while off: when convenience wins

There’s a balance between comfort and thrift. Keeping network gear on maintains phones, security cams, and smart locks. Some devices also update firmware at night, which saves you time later. A simple rule works well: switch off what you don’t miss during sleep and work hours, and leave lifeline gear running.

Make a five-minute plan

1. Walk the home and list every plug-in device with an LED, clock, or remote.
2. Tag each one as always-on or switchable.
3. Buy two labeled strips and a couple of smart plugs.
4. Put entertainment add-ons on a switch; put printers on a work-hours smart plug.
5. Check your meter again in a week and adjust.

Where the numbers come from

Independent labs and field studies back the ranges used here. Berkeley Lab maintains a library on standby power, including product measurements and FAQs. The NRDC’s home idle load report reported always-on usage worth $19 billion a year across U.S. homes at the time of the study, with set-top boxes, TVs, computers, and networking equipment among the common contributors. The DOE’s Energy Saver pages explain how to measure device use and suggest quick fixes like power strips and unplugging where practical.

Bottom line for your bill

Phantom loads aren’t a mystery once you look for them. A handful of watts here and there turn into real kilowatt-hours across the year. Target boxes, consoles, TVs and sound gear, desktop towers, and unneeded network hardware first. Use switches and smarter settings, and keep lifeline gear humming. That mix trims waste while keeping the home easy to live in.