Im from the states and live in Ireland. Here, people unplug lamps when they leave for the weekend. Dozens of times, I’ve had to plug lamps back in when coming into the office over a weekend or things like Christmas break.
I’ve also had to explain to at least 5-6 people that something that does not draw power by being plugged in, such as a toaster, electric kettle or light fixture (unlike a computerized device that has a stand-by mode) is not “wasting power” unless you unplug it or turn the outlet switch off.
I had a person at a party tell me their father was an electrician and taught her to turn the switches that lead to anything such as lamps OFF when they’re not being used because it costs electricity to “keep the wire charged”. True story.
Mainly they exist because there weren’t central fuse boxes for a while due to wartime copper shortages.
turn the switches that lead to anything such as lamps OFF when they’re not being used because it costs electricity to "keep the wire charged
Lol what a donkey. For anyone that’s unaware, your meter spins when current is flowing, when a device is actively using power. If there’s no current flowing, the meter isn’t spinning. Just because a wire has potential doesn’t mean it’s actively drawing current, it only means it’s ready to do something, and any device that has the main feeder going through a physical switch (ie no standby like a computer or tv) has zero current path when the switch is open/off. Even devices in standby are drawing such a negligible amount of power that it doesn’t matter.
My mom used to unplug everything all the time, and it took years to convince her that’s not how that works. She only finally got it when I became an electrician.
You can test this theory yourself if you have a multimeter. Select ohms/continuity, and put the leads across the two prongs. If there is a resistance value present, it will draw current. If it says OL or 0 ohms, that means open line and it won’t draw anything.
the only thing that would make a shred of sense would be reactive power from plugged but unused transformers and the like, and for this reason you should disconnect these when not in use. but the only loads of this type that matter are welders and such
Does it? Can’t you just turn off the device instead?
yes.
Im from the states and live in Ireland. Here, people unplug lamps when they leave for the weekend. Dozens of times, I’ve had to plug lamps back in when coming into the office over a weekend or things like Christmas break.
I’ve also had to explain to at least 5-6 people that something that does not draw power by being plugged in, such as a toaster, electric kettle or light fixture (unlike a computerized device that has a stand-by mode) is not “wasting power” unless you unplug it or turn the outlet switch off.
I had a person at a party tell me their father was an electrician and taught her to turn the switches that lead to anything such as lamps OFF when they’re not being used because it costs electricity to “keep the wire charged”. True story.
Mainly they exist because there weren’t central fuse boxes for a while due to wartime copper shortages.
Lol what a donkey. For anyone that’s unaware, your meter spins when current is flowing, when a device is actively using power. If there’s no current flowing, the meter isn’t spinning. Just because a wire has potential doesn’t mean it’s actively drawing current, it only means it’s ready to do something, and any device that has the main feeder going through a physical switch (ie no standby like a computer or tv) has zero current path when the switch is open/off. Even devices in standby are drawing such a negligible amount of power that it doesn’t matter.
My mom used to unplug everything all the time, and it took years to convince her that’s not how that works. She only finally got it when I became an electrician.
You can test this theory yourself if you have a multimeter. Select ohms/continuity, and put the leads across the two prongs. If there is a resistance value present, it will draw current. If it says OL or 0 ohms, that means open line and it won’t draw anything.
the only thing that would make a shred of sense would be reactive power from plugged but unused transformers and the like, and for this reason you should disconnect these when not in use. but the only loads of this type that matter are welders and such
Someone elsewhere in the thread pointed out that the Wikipedia page for BS 1363 says they’re optional and weren’t added to the standard until 1967.
huh! shit. thanks
A lot of devices can be turned off, but they still use power. So you can waste electricity even though the devices are “off”.
Things like normal table lamps aren’t the problem, it is stuff like TVs, computers, stereos, etc.