I wonder how much power is used by appliances in stand-by mode and those transformers that get hot when left plugged in.
It probably adds up to a large amount.
How much power is used by appliances in stand-by mode...an hot transformers?
The article said 2% in the UK. Here is a wild idea ;-) get Energy Star ratings for McMansions, and only build the ones with lower ratings, since construction and buildings use twice as much energy as transportation. See my post at http://ecobusinesslinks.com/straw_bale/straw_bale_solar_sustainable_development.htm
A good example is your TV. It basically is never off. That’s, from what I understand, why it comes on so fast. A friend of mine saw a big difference when he put a switch on the TV that disconnected it from the power source. He did this because he lives in the mountains and runs everything from a generator. He found that with the TV turned of, at the TV itself, he was still using a lot of power. Once he disconnected his TV, stereo and other appliances from the power sourse, his power usage went way down.
Radio Shack sells a clamp-on ammeter with a line cord attachment so it should be easy to measure current draw. Multiply by your line voltage (at the outlet, 120 VAC in the US & Canada) to get wattage, then multiply by hours in a month to get watthours. Divide by 1000 to get kilowatt hours and multiply by your price-per-kilowatthour to determine actual monthly cost.
My guess is that it's a very miniscule amount.