Your always-on devices draw about 69 W around the clock: 600 kWh or 150 € a year (20% of your electricity). Biggest culprit: Cable / satellite box, DVR (110 kWh).
Standby cost per year
€150
600 kWh
Average phantom load
69W
74 W if all in standby at once
Share of your electricity
20%
Cost per month
€12.51
Possible saving
€91.28
switching off 70% (router excluded)
Smart plug payback
5 months
CO₂ per year
210kg
10-year standby cost
€1,501
Device breakdown
| Device | Count | Standby W (each) | Hours/day | kWh/yr | €/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable / satellite box, DVR | 1 | 15 | 20 | 109.5 | 27.38 |
| Wi-Fi router / modem / mesh nodes | 1 | 9 | 24 | 78.8 | 19.71 |
| Game console (rest / instant-on) | 1 | 10 | 21 | 76.7 | 19.16 |
| Smart speaker / display | 2 | 3 | 24 | 52.6 | 13.14 |
| Smart-home hub / plugs / doorbell | 4 | 1.5 | 24 | 52.6 | 13.14 |
| Other always-on (alarm, boiler controls, fridge display) | 1 | 5 | 24 | 43.8 | 10.95 |
| Microwave / oven clock | 2 | 2 | 23.8 | 34.7 | 8.69 |
| Printer (ready / standby) | 1 | 4 | 23 | 33.6 | 8.4 |
| Soundbar / AV receiver | 1 | 4 | 21 | 30.7 | 7.67 |
| Desktop PC (off / sleep) | 1 | 3 | 20 | 21.9 | 5.48 |
| Coffee machine (standby / warm) | 1 | 2 | 23 | 16.8 | 4.2 |
| Washing machine / dishwasher (left on) | 2 | 1 | 22 | 16.1 | 4.02 |
| Electric toothbrush / shaver base | 1 | 1.5 | 23 | 12.6 | 3.15 |
| Chargers left plugged in | 4 | 0.3 | 22 | 9.6 | 2.41 |
| TV (modern, standby) | 2 | 0.5 | 20 | 7.3 | 1.83 |
| Computer monitor (standby) | 1 | 0.5 | 18 | 3.3 | 0.82 |
- Wattages are typical measured values. For new products, EU Regulation 2023/826 caps off/standby at 0.5 W (0.8 W with display) and networked standby at 2–8 W, so older devices often draw far more.
- Measure your own baseload: read the meter at night with everything “off”, or use a plug-in energy monitor on each device.