What is Standby Power? Types of Standby Power

Standby power is electrical power that an electrical device draws when it is not in use. However, the device has the power connection with a supply source, and the device is ready to use. We call standby power as vampire draw, vampire power, ghost load, phantom load, or leaking electricity.

Standby power applies to the appliances like television sets, computers, computer peripherals, and battery chargers because these devices draw power even when not in operation. Unplugging of the devices from the utility outlet is only a way to reduce the power consumption to zero. It is expressed in watts(W).

Standby power allows electronics appliances to turn on quickly because they are ready for operation. If we switch off the main supply from the electrical outlet, the device takes time for powering up because of heating time and initialization power. Therefore, the standby power is very vital for the electronic equipment.

Types of Standby Power

There are two types of standby power namely,

  • On-call power
  • Vampire power, phantom power and phantom load.

On-Call Power

On-call power provides electrical power to devices immediately. The following devices require on-call power.

  • Digital circuit
  • LED circuit
  • Devices controlled with a remote
  • Printer
  • Computer
  • Communication devices- Transmitters, receivers, repeaters & many more

Vampire Power

It is also known as standby power and phantom load. 

An AC adapter constantly supplies power even the batteries are fully charged. Also, an Ac adapter consumes power even when there is no connected loads to adapter. The efficiency of the AC adapters are very low, about 50 percent of the power they use.

Vampire power has been on rising trend during the past decade because of proliferation of rechargeable gadgets, computer networks and devices.

The equipment with a standby power feature has poor efficiency because they consume power even when not in use. If we add standby power of a computer & printer, it may be about 100 watts. However, if we add the standby power of all the equipment used in a country, we will find a huge power loss. The large power wastage has economic and environmental impact.

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