Standby Power and How to Use Less of It

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Summary

Written by Shane Holt, Australian Greenhouse Office and Lloyd Harrington, Energy Efficient Strategies for the ACEEE Summer Study, California, August 2004.

In 2000, a survey of 65 homes in Australia produced some startling findings - standby power was around 90 Watts continuous (>10% of residential electricity). Realistic projections suggested this was set to grow at 7% per annum. These facts, confirmed by other studies around the world, prompted the development of an Australian government plan to combat excessive standby power. In late 2002, the Ministerial Council on Energy in Australia launched a 10-year strategy to deal with excessive standby power use by appliances. More than 30 problem products were identified for specific standby improvement plans. Half of those plans have been released with the remainder scheduled for October 2004.

Australia's standby strategy is to build around the IEA plan, which encourages all member nations to address standby in a coordinated manner. Australia has also been active in the development of standby test methods within the IEC. The Australian approach uses product specific targets that must be met by 2012. If industry fail to reach the targets, voluntary action may be replaced by mandatory actions such as energy labeling of standby, warning labels for poor product or banning from sale. Industry involvement and support for the program is strong, especially for independent verification of standby claims. Australia is working with other nations like Korea to develop viable standby policies.

The Australian approach cannot achieve its complete potential without real action by other major economies. The paper calls for coordinated action on standby by the major economies and a continuation of action by multinational energy bodies.

This page last modified 02 February 2009