It hit me as I shut out the lights in my office tonight. I turned back to look at my workspace and saw a glowing array of green and red LEDs spread across the desks. Even though my computers were shut down, a whole lot of standby power continued to run through almost every device in the room (other than the computers). All of those glowing lights got me thinking (always a dangerous thing) … just how much electricity is wasted due to standby power?

The Berkley Lab’s eye-opening Standby Power FAQ states:

Current estimates indicate that standby power use in the U.S. accounts for about 5% of residential electricity use, implying that residential consumers in the U.S. spend over 4 billion dollars on standby power every year. In Japan, Germany and the Netherlands, standby power comprises 10 to 15 percent of total residential electricity use.

So what wastes the most standby power around the house? The Berkley Lab’s Standby Power Summary Chart show VCRs, TVs, DVD players, cable and satellite boxes, and stereo systems to be among the worst offenders.