The next time you leave that television or computer on the standby mode, just spare a thought!

The total standby power consumption from just three common electronic items — TVs, personal computers and set-top boxes — is projected to surge to as high as 5.5 billion units (kWh) by 2013, or close to the annual output of a 1,000 MW coal-fired power plant.

This is up from around 2.7 billion units in 2008, according to estimates made by Pune-based Prayas Energy Group of the standby consumption across just these three consumer electronic items. Also called phantom load or leaking electricity, the term standby power refers to the electric power consumed by an appliance when it is switched off, but stays plugged in. Other appliances where standby power consumption is high include air conditioners, laptops and gaming consoles, video players, Blu-ray players — especially when these equipments are switched off using a remote — as well as mobile chargers.

“The loss on account of standby power is something that we're already looking at,” Dr Ajay Mathur, Director-General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), said. The Bureau has already started issuing endorsement labels (or voluntary labels) for products such as TVs and notebooks, which take into account the electricity consumption both when the equipments are operational and when on standby mode. For phone chargers too, a BEE technical committee meeting is working on a phased introduction of labelling.

Bigger challenge

Set-top boxes offer a bigger challenge, since the DTH (direct to home) or cable operator buys these in bulk and hands them out to the end-consumers. “The consumer does not really have a choice in the matter. For the operator, it's the first cost that counts. Most set-top boxes that are in the market operate at near full power even when they're not being used, especially the newer ones that offer additional features such as video recording,” Dr Mathur said.

The Prayas study shows that standby consumption of power in televisions and set-top boxes was substantially higher among the urban population. The main reason for this trend, presumably, is the extensive power cuts in the rural areas.

GOVTS RAISE THE BAR

While in India, actual work on curbing standby power losses has commenced recently, Governments across the developed world has been working hard to prune these losses. In the US, the Government directed federal agencies in July 2001 to purchase products that use no more than one watt in their standby power consuming mode. In July 2006, the British Government announced it would ban TVs and video players that draw more than 1 watt (W) in standby. In July 2007, California's 2005 appliance standards came into effect, limiting external power supply standby power to 0.5 W. In July 2008, the European Commission set caps on standby power consumption, with a target halving them further by 2012.

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