Small appliances like toasters, coffee makers, and space heaters should always be unplugged when not in use, both for safety and to cut energy waste. But they’re not the only culprits. Home entertainment systems, gaming consoles, and computer setups quietly draw power around the clock, even when turned “off.” The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates these idle loads account for up to 10% of a typical household’s electric bill, costing the average home up to $100 a year.
Small Kitchen Appliances
Toasters, toaster ovens, coffee makers, electric kettles, stand mixers, and instant pots should all be unplugged after each use. FEMA’s fire safety guidance is straightforward: unplug small appliances when you are not using them. These devices have heating elements that can malfunction, and keeping them plugged in creates a path for electrical surges to reach components that weren’t designed to handle continuous power.
The energy savings from unplugging a single toaster are minimal on their own. The real value is cumulative. If you have six or seven small appliances sitting on your counter drawing even a fraction of a watt each, that trickle adds up over months. More importantly, the fire prevention benefit is reason enough.
Space Heaters and Seasonal Devices
Portable space heaters are among the most dangerous appliances to leave plugged in. They pull between 2,000 and 5,000 watts during operation, and a malfunctioning unit that accidentally turns on or short-circuits can ignite nearby materials quickly. Unplug them every single time you’re done, and especially before leaving the house or going to sleep.
The same logic applies to portable fans, window air conditioning units, and dehumidifiers during their off-season. A full-size dehumidifier draws around 240 watts when running. While a basic wall fan draws zero watts in standby, seasonal appliances that sit unused for months are better off unplugged to avoid surge damage during storms and to eliminate any risk from degraded wiring or dust buildup in the unit.
Entertainment Systems and Gaming Consoles
Your TV, streaming box, soundbar, and gaming console form one of the biggest phantom power clusters in the house. Gaming consoles are particularly wasteful in standby mode because many maintain network connections, check for updates, and keep USB ports powered for charging controllers. Together, an entertainment center left plugged in 24/7 can draw a surprising amount of power over the course of a year.
The simplest fix is plugging your entire entertainment setup into one power strip and switching it off when you’re done for the night. This kills power to every device at once without needing to reach behind furniture to unplug individual cables.
Computers, Monitors, and Printers
Desktop computers, monitors, and printers are consistent phantom power offenders. Even an Energy Star monitor still draws about 2 watts in sleep mode and 1 watt when fully off but still plugged in. Printers are worse, often staying in a warm standby state so they can print immediately when a job comes through.
The Department of Energy recommends putting monitors, printers, and other accessories on a power strip and switching it off when the equipment won’t be used for extended periods. Energy Star computers use 30% to 65% less energy than non-certified models, but “less” still isn’t zero. If your home office sits idle on weekends, flipping one power strip saves energy from four or five devices simultaneously.
Chargers and Adapters
Phone and laptop chargers continue drawing power when plugged into the wall with nothing attached. Testing by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that a cell phone charger in “no load” mode consumes about 0.26 watts, while a laptop charger pulls 4.42 watts. That laptop charger, left plugged in around the clock for a year, wastes roughly 39 kilowatt-hours, enough to notice on your bill.
If you charge your phone on a nightstand, unplugging the cable in the morning is an easy habit. For laptop chargers, the savings are more meaningful because of that higher idle draw. Hair dryer and electric razor chargers fall into this category too.
What You Can Leave Plugged In
Not everything benefits from being unplugged. Your refrigerator and freezer need continuous power for obvious reasons. Your router and modem should stay on since they handle security cameras, smart home devices, and updates that run overnight. Repeatedly cutting power to a router can also corrupt its firmware over time.
Large appliances like your washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher draw negligible standby power in most modern models, and the inconvenience of reaching behind them to unplug heavy-duty cords outweighs the fraction of a cent you’d save. Smart home hubs, security systems, and DVRs that record on a schedule also need constant power to function properly.
For any device you’re unsure about, a simple plug-in energy meter (available for under $20) will tell you exactly how much power it draws in standby. If it’s under half a watt, the savings from unplugging are negligible.
Smart Power Strips Make It Easier
The biggest barrier to unplugging is convenience. Smart power strips solve this by detecting when a device enters standby mode and automatically cutting power to it. Unlike traditional power strips, which still deliver electricity to everything plugged in, smart strips distinguish between active use and idle draw.
A practical setup: plug your TV into the “control” outlet on a smart strip, then plug your soundbar, streaming stick, and console into the switched outlets. When you turn off the TV, the strip cuts power to everything else automatically. The same approach works for a computer setup where the desktop is the control device and the monitor, speakers, and printer are secondary.
For rooms where you’d rather not think about it, smart plugs with scheduling features let you cut power to specific outlets overnight or during work hours. The energy used by the smart plug itself is trivial, typically well under 1 watt.
A Quick Priority List
If you want the biggest impact with the least effort, focus on these categories first:
- Always unplug: space heaters, toasters, toaster ovens, coffee makers, curling irons, and any appliance with a heating element
- Unplug or use a power strip: entertainment centers, gaming consoles, desktop computer setups, and printers
- Unplug when not charging: laptop chargers, phone chargers, and battery-powered tool chargers
- Unplug seasonally: portable fans, window AC units, dehumidifiers, and holiday lighting
- Leave plugged in: refrigerators, routers, security systems, and large laundry appliances
The combination of fire prevention and energy savings makes this worth the small daily effort. Even targeting just your entertainment center and home office with a couple of smart power strips can reclaim a meaningful chunk of that $100 annual phantom load.