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Unplug your chargers when not in use

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

When you're not using your chargers, be it for your mobile telephone, your digital camera, your PDA, your MP3 Player, or what-have-you, unplug them or, if you happen to live in the UK, switch them off at the socket where the charger happens to be plugged in at the wall. If you use a power strip then the “unplug” applies, also in the UK.

Chargers still use a lot of energy, as they are constantly still actually transforming current, when they are plugged in at the socket. Savings can range from a few pounds a month to hundreds a year depending on how many chargers you have and use and tend to keep plugged in.

© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually, a charger only uses a trickle current if there is no load on it (the device being charged) This is due to a "counter-EMF" which is generated by the transformer winding primary.
So it does not use anywhere near the power it uses while actually in operation.
Still, unplugging unused charging devices is a good idea, if they are not in use very often.