Can a switched on empty mains socket use power?

Phil2008 · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:33

A a gas engineer told my mate if you turn off all the mains sockets that are unused, it can save you money. As a switched on unused socket is a open circuit that will still use power?

PhillyDee · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:34

No. Slap your mate (or someone) around the head and tell him not to be so stupid.

Antar Bolaeisk · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:35

No, the circuit isn't closed and there's no power flowing through it unless something is seriously wrong.

When you plug something in, a kettle for example, it forms a connection from the live to the neutral allowing power to flow through a load (in this case the heating element). Until such time as something is plugged in the circuit is still open so there can be no electrical current.

Hades · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:37

Just a socket? No, of course not.

But something like a phone charger can consume a very small amount of electricity even if no phone is plugged into it.

PhillyDee · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:38

Hades said:
Just a socket? No, of course not.

But something like a phone charger can consume a very small amount of electricity even if no phone is plugged into it.

Its not an unused socket though.

Hades · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:39

PhillyDee said:
Its not an unused socket though.

I never said it was

Burnsy2023 · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:51

Leaving things on standby uses power, albeit a very small amount. I really wouldn't worry about it.

C.R.A.Z.Y · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:56

Burnsy2023 said:
Leaving things on standby uses power, albeit a very small amount. I really wouldn't worry about it.

You'd be very surprised how much some electrical appliances use in standby it's actually quite shocking

Always isolate where possible (No need to unplug, it's what the switch is for

)

Phil2008 · 5 Feb 2013 at 00:59

The gas engineer said that unused mains sockets that are switched on could be costing about £50 a year extra :eek:

Burnsy2023 · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:03

C.R.A.Z.Y said:
You'd be very surprised how much some electrical appliances use in standby it's actually quite shocking
Always isolate where possible (No need to unplug, it's what the switch is for )

That highly depends on what type of device is plugged in. Electronic devices are very efficiently on standby. Older appliances that have a high wattage are often different. I know old CRTs are quite bad for it.

Phil2008 said:
The gas engineer said that unused mains sockets that are switched on could be costing about £50 a year extra

You need to be more specific about what unused means. Is an appliance plugged in?

Phil2008 · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:25

Burnsy2023 said:
You need to be more specific about what unused means. Is an appliance plugged in?

No an empty socket that's switched on.

I dont believe it,, as you need a circuit for it to use power

Narn · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:26

it sounds like one of those urban myths

Burnsy2023 · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:27

Phil2008 said:
No an empty socket that's switched on.

I dont believe it,, as you need a circuit for it to use power

If there is nothing plugged into the socket it can't use any electricity, turned on or off. The laws of physics simply don't allow it.

I think the guy is a plumber for and not a sparky for a reason

AHarvey · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:29

Why is your mate taking anything a gas engineer says about an electricians job seriously?

As burnsy say's, the guy doesn't know what he's talking about

Rroff · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:36

This sounds suspiciously like the "story" my science teacher used to tell about his "gas engineer" father who would go around plugging those blank child safety plugs into all the electric sockets in his house so the electricity couldn't "leak".

TheVoice · 5 Feb 2013 at 01:40

Hades said:
But something like a phone charger can consume a very small amount of electricity even if no phone is plugged into it.

Very small is correct, I've tested a few device chargers using a power meter before and the draw was so low that they wouldn't even register a reading on it, whether they were charging the device or not. Really not worth worrying about if you're trying to save electricity or money.

Blackjack Davy · 5 Feb 2013 at 02:18

Reminds me of my previous place of employment, I was told to make sure all sockets were switched off before I went home. None of the sockets had anything plugged in them...

Bizaare. Perhaps they thought they were going to "leak" electricity overnight?

The thing that really bugged me though was they left these enormous gas heaters on in the warehouse 24/7 even if there was no-one in there, which was most of the time and even then there was usually only one person in there. I mean, they were like 5 feet square and had huge fans to blast out out the heat. What a waste. Still, it was only council tax payers money they were burning, plenty more where that came from eh?

R.P.L · 5 Feb 2013 at 02:29

He's a gas engineer, so therefore is not an authority on electricity. That said, I wouldn't trust someone to 'engineer' anything in my property if they said something like that...

phil-k · 5 Feb 2013 at 02:38

the gas engineer is a bit early, its only February, not April 1st

asim18 · 5 Feb 2013 at 02:54

Phil2008 said:
No an empty socket that's switched on.

I dont believe it,, as you need a circuit for it to use power

Yep, that's preposterous. When you unplug something the connection is split just like a switch. Turning the switch off will just create two "splits" in the circuit.