Leaking electricity: Individual field measurement of consumer electronics

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:20001978

Floyd, D B; Webber, C

Leaking electricity or parasitic load is energy wasted by electronic devices when they are not performing any useful function, typically in an off or standby state. Before this study, little was known about the magnitude or source of this waste. While whole house losses have been estimated to be approximately 50 watts, little data has been available to quantify energy waste from individual loads. This paper summarizes measurements of over 600 consumer electronic devices taken by researchers at both the Florida Solar Energy Center and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Combined they form the largest data set of consumer electronic loads ever assembled. Measurements were recorded at national electronic stores, a nationwide retailer and in individual's homes. Measured loads include heat pumps, televisions, videocassette recorders, digital video disk players, cable boxes, portable stereos, DSS receivers, telephones, and other miscellaneous residential electronic appliances. Detailed power consumption of each device was measured in the most common modes of operation (on, off and standby) and the features most likely to affect energy consumption were recorded. Loads for each product type and category are summarized in all modes of operation and methods to reduce parasitic loads are proposed.

• Research Organization: Florida Solar Energy Center, FL (US)
• OSTI ID: 20001978
• Report Number(s): CONF-980815--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AIR CONDITIONERS
COMPUTERS
ELECTRIC APPLIANCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HEAT PUMPS
MONITORING
POWER LOSSES
RADIO EQUIPMENT
TELEVISION
TOOLS