chargers — all of these continue drawing power even when no device is actively being charged. A laptop charger left plugged in with nothing connected draws an average of 4.42 watts continuously, which adds up to nearly 40 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year from a single charger alone. Desktop computers, monitors, printers, and modems in sleep mode also contribute meaningfully to your phantom load.
My 4-Week Experiment: What I Did Every Night
For 28 consecutive nights, before I went to bed, I made a short circuit of my home and unplugged the following devices:Cooking & Recipes
The television in the living room
The cable box
The microwave
The coffee maker
The toaster
Phone chargers that were not actively charging anything
The laptop charger when the laptop was full
The small speaker system near the TV
I did not unplug the refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, or dryer — these are large
