Many people tend to leave their phone chargers plugged in even when they're not charging smartphone their . However, the fact that they're left plugged in means that the chargers are "working." That is, they consume energy and therefore money.
But how much energy do they consume? Should we unplug chargers from the power when we're not charging cell phone ?
To measure the energy, the expert used the WattsUp? PRO power meter. This tool is used to measure the energy produced by a device. There are many other similar tools, which you can find in online stores.
Power is measured in kilowatt hours (KWh, or 1,000W). One kilowatt hour is the energy produced or consumed in one hour at a constant power of one kilowatt and is equivalent to 3.6 million joules (MJ). A device rated at 1,000 W operating for one hour will use 1 KW h, while a device rated at 100 W will take 10 hours to consume 1 KW h.
Regarding cost, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the average cost for 1 KW h in the US is around $0.13.
Essay
Initially, a test was carried out on 5W chargers, which usually come with the iPhone 11.The charger was connected to the power supply for a few days but did not charge any smartphone.
Of course, it consumed energy. All smartphone chargers consume energy, whether they charge the phone or not.
But how much energy did the iPhone charger consume?
According to tests, iPhone chargers Apple consume about 135W per month, which is equivalent to just over 1.5KW h per year. This energy is consumed without charging the smartphone. In fact, there is not much waste. Therefore, in terms of economic cost, the money is not much.
However, we must keep some things in mind.
For example, the number of chargers we use. The more chargers we use, the greater the energy consumption and costs.
Additionally, non-genuine chargers may consume much more energy (up to 10 to 20 times more than genuine ones).
But beyond the financial cost and energy waste, cheap and non-genuine chargers can be dangerous. Therefore, it is advisable not to leave such chargers plugged in for long hours.
Also, it may be convenient for us to always have a charger ready, but we must think about the environmental cost of constantly operating chargers. Millions of idle chargers plugged in all day, every day translates into millions of kilowatt-hours wasted for no reason. And each kilowatt-hour equals about one pound of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
Therefore, it would be a good idea to unplug all our chargers when we are not using them. Alternatively, we can use a power strip with a switch, which we will turn off when we are not charging the mobile phone. This way, no energy will be consumed.
