Standby power: finding what runs while you sleep

Standby is power an appliance draws when it isn't in use: the TV waiting for the remote, the microwave clock, the game console ready to update overnight, the charger left in the wall. The Australian Government's energy.gov.au has a simple rule of thumb: anything with a little light on or a clock is using power.

Then there are loads that aren't standby at all but are always on: the second fridge in the garage, a heated towel rail left switched on, a pond pump, a network cabinet, a camera system. Each seems small. Together they make up your baseline, the power the house uses when everyone is asleep and nothing much is happening.

Because the baseline runs every hour of every day, a modest constant load can cost more over a year than a big appliance used now and then. That is what makes it worth an evening's detective work.

Victorian homes have smart meters that record usage in short intervals through the day. You can ask your retailer or distributor for that data, and some have online portals or apps where you can view it or download a file.

Look at the hours between about 1am and 5am on an ordinary night, when the dishwasher has finished and nobody is up. The flat line through those hours is your baseline. If it is higher than you expected, something is running that you didn't know about.

Allow for things that are meant to run overnight. Off-peak electric hot water switches on at night, and a heating timer or pool pump may too. They show as blocks that start and stop, not a flat line, so they are easy to tell apart from true always-on loads.

A plug-in energy meter sits between the power point and the appliance and shows what it draws, both running and idle. They are easy to find at hardware and electronics stores. Leave one on a fridge for a full day, because a fridge cycles on and off and a quick reading will mislead you.

Work through the house and note the idle reading for each suspect. Then multiply it out over a year to see which ones matter. The big wins are usually two or three items, not the phone charger.

An old fridge in the garage is often the biggest single always-on load in the house. The seals harden, the insulation is decades behind current models, and in a garage on a hot northerly afternoon it runs hard. Laverton averages 27 days a year at or above 30 °C, mostly from December to February, and an uninsulated garage gets hotter than the air outside.

If it is holding a few drinks, turn it off and use the main fridge. If you genuinely need the space, a newer, efficient model in the coolest spot you have will cost less to run. Measure the old one first. The number usually makes the decision for you.

Australian Government advice is to switch most appliances off at the wall when they aren't being used, other than fridges, freezers and any critical medical equipment. For an entertainment unit or a home office, a switched power board, or one that cuts the accessories when the TV goes off, turns it into a single action.

Smart plugs can run timers so a load switches off overnight, but they draw a little power themselves, so use them on loads worth controlling. Leave the internet modem, alarm systems and anything that needs overnight updates alone, or set a schedule that suits them.

Don't plug power boards into other power boards to make switching easier, and keep heaters and other high-draw appliances on a wall power point of their own.

Some always-on loads are wired in rather than plugged in: heated towel rails, bathroom floor heating, pool and spa equipment, and garden lighting. Adding a timer, moving a switch or changing how they are controlled is electrical installation work. Energy Safe Victoria says electrical work isn't a DIY job, even for small jobs like changing a light switch.

Common changes are a timer on a heated towel rail so it runs for an hour or two each morning, a switch for garden lights moved somewhere you'll actually use it, or a smart switch that can be scheduled. Whenever a licensed electrician completes electrical installation work, they must give you a Certificate of Electrical Safety.

Fridges and freezers stay on. So do medical equipment, smoke alarms, security systems and anything that runs overnight for a reason. Hot water on a controlled load or a timer is meant to heat at set times. That isn't waste; it is how the system was set up.

The aim isn't zero. It is knowing what your baseline is made of and cutting the parts that do nothing for you, then checking the smart meter data a month later to see the line drop.