As an electronic device, each power charger consumes power when connected. whether or not you charge a device. Now, how much are you spending? Is it so much so that leaving the chargers plugged in means a noticeable increase in the electricity bill? Before answering the questions, we suggest that you should not worry: phantom consumption is almost zero.
Around mobile chargers there are various myths that we have all heard at some point. That they should not stay connected because they consume a lot of electricity is one of the main, a hoax we can deny from now on. As with other electrical devices that consume energy without being used, such as the TV off, the microwave alarm clock or the console on “stand by”, this phantom consumption of chargers exists, but it does not represent an additional cost. excessive for actively spent light. Of course, there’s no reason to leave everything connected.
A connected charger consumes electricity, yes, but almost nothing
Power strip with four mobile chargers. On the left, cumulative consumption after several hours; on the right, consumption in real time (smart plug in home automation unit)
Battery chargers include various integrated circuits with an internal copper coil responsible for transforming the high voltage and amperage of the DC outlet to the much lower values required by a mobile (the chargers also convert AC electricity to DC) . This circuit is not completely disconnected when we remove the mobile from the cable, since a small part of the energy continues to flow through the coil. This is the reason why they continue to consume electricity passively, in ghost mode.
Due to the nature of the charger and its circuitry, these will consume electricity as long as the accessory is plugged in. And from there arise the myths, especially the one that refers to the overspending of all the chargers plugged in to no avail.
No charger stops consuming electricity when it stops charging the mobile: a minimal part of electricity continues to circulate in its circuits (and to generate heat)
While the expense is real and can be quantified, it’s so ridiculous that no smart plug sold today can measure how much electricity a plugged-in charger draws without powering a phone. At home I have several of these sockets, each with its integrated energy meter (in real time and cumulative). After doing several tests, I could not measure what a single charger consumes in “ghost mode”. So I stocked up on chargers and plugged them all into the same power strip; connected in turn to the smart socket.
With four different chargers none of my sockets registered any activity, neither at the moment nor after eight hours of accumulation. The same thing happened with six chargers, with eight and even with eleven: literally, I put all the chargers I had at home in the same outlet. Taking the average, and considering that my socket’s detection range is about 1W (the minimum for the socket to register the power consumption measurement), the power consumption in phantom mode of each charger is less than 100mW (0.1W ).
Phantom power and power efficiency of Apple’s 20W charger. Picture apple.
Cell phone and charger manufacturers generally do not provide phantom power consumption data. One company that does this is Apple: as you can read in the iPhone 14 environmental report, electricity consumption without the 20W charger powering the iPhone (without charging) is 0.05W at 230V. Said charger is Apple’s standard, the one it distributes to power most of its devices (and which it does not ship with the iPhone). In my collection of eleven chargers on the same smart plug, there were two such chargers.
How much do you pay on your bill for each connected and unused mobile charger?
Test bench with eleven chargers connected to the same smart plug. Kids, don’t do this at home, power strips are dangerous
Chargers consume energy even when they are not working, that was already clear. This consumption is very difficult to measure without a device that achieves a high accuracy range.. And even assembling several chargers in the same socket is not easy to get an approximate value. This already suggests that, translated into dollars, phantom consumption is not going to ruin anyone.
Since all my tests consumed less than 0.1W on average, I’ll take Apple’s value for the 20W USB C charger as a reference (about 230V, the European voltage). The circuit of this device should not be too far from a standard mobile chargernor their consumption: neither in active mode nor in passive mode.
Power consumption of eleven chargers for a Muvit smart plug. He didn’t even cumulate the expenses after several hours
The 0.05W per hour that the charger consumes in ghost mode is 1.2Wh per day; about 36 Wh per month and about 432 Wh per year, approx. Taking as a reference the average price per kilowatt on the electricity market in August, which was 0.307 euro per kWh, the phantom cost of a charger would be around 13 euro cents. Every year (and 1.08 cents per month). Always without taking into account that the electricity price fluctuates (the cost should be lower if the mobile is charged only at night, for example; the contracted electricity tariff also has an influence, the above is valid for the PVCP).
The approximate phantom consumption of a mobile phone charger is a few euro cents each year
While phantom consumption is ridiculous, that doesn’t mean it should be ignored: it all adds up. In addition, the longer a device works the shorter its lifespan, even in passive mode. And one last point: not all chargers have the same efficiency, the less good ones surely consume more (and heat up even when not in use, I can attest to that). Therefore, my recommendation is to put away the charger and its cable whenever you have finished charging. Especially if what happens to me happens to you: my vacuum cleaner is particularly attracted to cables.
