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Is it OK to leave device chargers plugged in all the time? An expert explains
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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You could save yourself cents per year!
They don't actually say how much power a charger uses on standby, and make an unsubstantiated claim that they "wear out" due to "voltage fluctuations". Sure thing.
Absolutely pointless article.
I would argue that you are much more likely to break the cable physically by constant unplugging and replugging.
Or wear out the wall switch.
I have never heard of someone having to replace their wall outlets due to wear and tear
As someone who just moved into a 1965 house - yep, plugs absolutely wear out. These are some sloppy bois.
Around here, people usually have to replace the wiring in such old houses, since they tend to only have two wires (i.e. no PE). But the Schuko sockets themselves are most likely fine.
I've encountered a number of outlets in American airports that should be replaced due to wear. They have very little friction on the prongs after millions of uses.
Life pro tip: bend the prongs a little to give your device more grip if you encounter outlets like this.
Pro tip: bend the wall where the outlet is to assert dominance.
Most wall outlets if they are a frequent use location only last a a handful of years before they start to get loose and maybe a decade before shit just doesn't hold at all.
A plug that you plug something into once or twice ever and leave it in can basically last forever.
I have had to do that - so now you have heard of someone... My house was built in 1973, some of the outlets in locations I believe previous owners would have plug/unpluged often have worn out, and thus I had to replace them. (think kitchen appliances or vacuum cleaners - the same outlets I'm using all the time). There other other outlets that still work, but they don't grip plugs as well as they should anymore and I am planning to replace. Despite the above, the vast majority of outlets I've replaced have been perfectly fine, but with young kids around I wanted modern TR outlets anywhere the kids are likely to be playing.
That's pretty much it. Maybe even tens of cents. In pre-USB era that actually made sense, Nokia chargers with a barrel jack (and other that era wall-warts) consumed even several watts on idle but (assuming a good quality) modern USB-bricks are way more efficient. They still consume a non-zero amount of power when plugged in but you're not going to see that on your power bill. You'll waste far mor energy if you forget your bathroom lights on overnight, even with LED bulbs.
Tbh, you are supposed to ALSO unplug EVERYTHING else you arent using to actually start saving money.
It doesn't completely generalize that way. I have an old stereo which uses like 7W on standby. And an old pair or computer speakers which don't really care if I press the button to turn them off. I mean that's not the power brick, but the device after that, so a bit out of scope for this article. But if I weren't unplugging them... 10W standby is 26€ a year and not just a few cents.
Key thing here being that they're old...there are limits to how much power electrical equipment is allowed to consume in standby mode (at least in the EU) today, it's not allowed to consume more than 0.5W in standby mode, 0.8W if it has a status display.
Yes, that's why I say it doesn't generalize. They mention this in the article. These old power bricks from the 90s with a heavy copper transformer inside waste a lot of power on standby compared to the modern switch-mode power supplies. But times have changed. On the flipside we have a lot more electronic gadgets these days and things in fact add up. So if you have modern things like 5 smart lightbulbs in the house, then a network switch, an internet router and a wifi extender, plus a few USB chargers at the bedside, the livingroom, a TV set with a PS4 and a soundbar plus subwoofer. A few LED strips in the gaming den... Then you might own a dishwasher and washing machine with wifi, the oven has a display, the microwave above yet another one, the cable TV has some booster in the basement... You're likely paying more than a few cents for that. And the things which run unattended 24/7 for decades, buried somewhere, tend to not get replaced every few years, so you might still own a power brick from the 90s. So I'd say it's worth looking into... I mean not super important, you can as well skip it and just pay the amount... But it's a thing. And I mean if you're unalike me and buy a new stereo every 10 years or so, that's also not necessarity helping the environment, and they cost money. So it's a bit complicated and a balance. At least I can somehow relate to the article, because the multi-outlet power strips behind the TV and my desk with the computer kind of look like the pictures there...