You might be paying almost 5% extra every month owing to Vampire Units.
Units in your bill that show up because of electricity consumed by Vampire Power are called Vampire Units. Impacts of these units are very straight forward. They cause unwanted increase in your electric bill and also are the root cause for increase in your carbon footprint. Vampire Units directly result in electricity wastage.
Identifying and Estimating
It is important to identify which appliances consume vampire power. Such appliances are identified if they are:
- Always plugged in sockets
- Switched Off by remote
- Put on Standby or Remote
- Always Changing
We have listed below a set of electronic devices that are most commonly used in most households or offices. The list also contains the average vampire power or average standby power consumption in W (watts) of the respective appliances.
To estimate the units, following equation can be used:
Units = Watts x Hours
These vampire units help quantify the amount of wastage and take proper precautions against it. For ease of use, we have organised the data in five generic categories.
Typical Home Appliances | ||||
Device | Type | Mode | Standby Power (W) | Units |
Phone | Cordless | Turned Off | 2.92 | 25.58 |
No Headset | 1.58 | 13.84 | ||
Charged | 2.81 | 24.62 | ||
Mobile Phone Charger | USB Type | Turned Off | 0.26 | 2.28 |
Plug Type | ||||
Modem | DSL | Turned Off | 1.37 | 12.00 |
Cable | Turned Off | 3.84 | 33.64 | |
Standby | 3.85 | 33.73 | ||
Air Conditioner | Wall Mounted | Turned Off | 0.90 | 7.88 |
Window Mounted |
Typical Kitchen Appliances | ||||
Device | Type | Mode | Standby Power (W) | Units |
Oven | Microwave | Turned Off | 4.00 | 35.00 |
Range | 4.00 | 35.00 | ||
Toaster | 1.03 | 9.00 | ||
Dishwasher | - | Turned Off | 4.00 | 35.00 |
Washing Machine | Dryer | Turned Off | 7.99 | 70.00 |
Washer | 7.99 | 70.00 | ||
Dehumidifier | 2.97 | 26.00 |
Typical Entertainment Appliances | ||||
Device | Type | Mode | Standby Power (W) | Units |
Television | >50" LED | Turned Off | 1.03 | 9.00 |
40"-49" LED | 1.03 | 9.00 | ||
30"-39" LED | 1.03 | 9.00 | ||
>50" Plasma | 6.51 | 57.00 | ||
40"-49" Plasma | 5.02 | 44.00 | ||
>50" LCD | 1.94 | 17.00 | ||
40"-49" LCD | 1.94 | 17.00 | ||
Set-top Box | DVR | Off | 36.68 | 321.32 |
Digital Cable with DVR | Off by Remote | 43.36 | 379.83 | |
TV Off | 44.63 | 390.96 | ||
Digital Cable | TV Off | 24.65 | 215.93 | |
Off by Remote | 17.83 | 156.19 | ||
Off by Switch | 17.50 | 153.30 | ||
Satellite with DVR | TV Off | 28.35 | 248.35 | |
Off by Remote | 27.80 | 243.53 | ||
Satellite | TV Off | 15.95 | 139.72 | |
Off by Remote | 15.66 | 137.18 | ||
Off by Switch | 15.47 | 135.52 |
Typical Work Appliances | ||||
Device | Type | Mode | Standby Power (W) | Units |
Computer Displays | CRT | Sleep | 12.14 | 106.35 |
Turned Off | 0.80 | 7.01 | ||
LCD | Sleep | 1.38 | 9.00 | |
Turned Off | 1.13 | 9.90 | ||
Computer | Desktop | Turned Off | 21.13 | 185.10 |
Off | 2.84 | 24.88 | ||
Laptops / Notebooks | Sleep | 15.77 | 138.15 | |
Turned Off | 8.90 | 77.96 | ||
Charged | 29.48 | 258.24 | ||
Fax Machine | Inkjet | Turned Off | 5.31 | 46.52 |
Laser | Turned Off | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Printer / Scanner / Copier | Inkjet | Turned Off | 5.26 | 46.08 |
Laser | Turned Off | 3.12 | 27.33 | |
Printer | Inkjet | Turned Off | 1.26 | 11.04 |
Laser | Turned Off | 1.58 | 13.84 | |
Scanner | Flatbed | Turned Off | 2.48 | 21.72 |
Speakers | Computer | Turned Off | 1.79 | 15.68 |
If your device is not listed here or you would like to expand this list, drop by your suggestions in the comment section below.


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