Watts Up Magazine wattsup magazine online | Page 30

CONSUMER WATCH
please turn it off - no
standby mode!
By Chebiwott Bartenge
A significant part of the electricity bills that households have to
grapple with are as a result of electricity energy leakage that
happens while devices are not in use.
Surprising as it may seems, a typical
microwave oven consumes more electricity
powering its digital clock than it does
heating food. While heating food may
require more than 100 times the power of
running the clock, most microwave ovens
stand idle—in “standby” mode—more than
99 percent of the time.
It is not the microwaves alone: many other
devices, such as television, DVD players,
stereos and computers also spend much
of their time in standby mode, collectively
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WATTS UP MAGAZINE APR - MAY 2017
consuming a huge amount of energy.
Moves are being made around the
world to reduce this unnecessary
power consumption, called standby
power.
Standby power, alias “vampire
power” or leaking electricity, is the
energy consumed while devices are
not in use. Devices on standby mode
take up more energy than when
in use, consequently raising the
electricity bills.