We’d love to help you with the installation of additional power points around your home or office. We can also replace cracked or faulty power points. It’s important we ensure all power points are protected by an RCD safety switch, to protect those using the power point.
We’d love to help you with the installation of additional power points around your home or office. We can also replace cracked or faulty power points. It’s important we ensure all power points are protected by an RCD safety switch, to protect those using the power point.
A question we’ve been asked by clients in relation to power points is, “If nothing is plugged into the power point but the power point switch is on, does the power point use power?” We have even witnessed people madly turning off all power point switches before leaving home! If the power point has nothing plugged into it, but the switch is on, no electricity is being used. Without anything plugged in, it is what electricians call an open circuit. The active and neutral paths are disconnected without anything plugged in, making a dead end. This means it is not a complete circuit, meaning current can’t flow, meaning electricity is not being used! We’ve also been asked, “If the power point switch is on, with an appliance plugged in, does this use power?”
The answer to this question is that it depends on the appliance. If the appliance is switched on and has a motor, fan or LED indicator light on it, then the answer is yes, it will be using power. Examples of this is a fridge, lap top or TV. However, appliances such as a toaster or kettle, will only use power when the appliance is in use.
Some people worry about how much energy and money they are wasting from their TV red indicator light being on, when the TV is off. A study conducted by EDF Energy concluded that a TV in standby mode (off, but with the power point switch on, meaning the red light on the TV is on) will use approximately 1.6W for an entire year of being on standby. This would cost approximately $3.50 for the year. We’ll let you decide if it’s worth turning the power point switch on and off all the time…