Electrical appliances that use electricity even when not working are a major energy consumer, a Canadian federal study showed.
The Natural Resources Canada study found a typical Canadian home annually consumes between 44 and 59 watts of standby power in devices that have clocks and stand-by functions.
That equates to between 389 and 513 kilowatt-hours of stand-by energy per house per year, which in Canada, translates to 3.2 to 4.3 percent of total residential electricity consumption, the Canwest News Service reported.
The report said many Canadian homes have 20 or more electric devices such as computers, microwave ovens, cordless phones and cable TV devices that use electricity even when turned off, accounting for 0.5 and 25 watt usage.
Last year, the Canadian government committed to an initiative by the International Energy Agency to reduce standby power use in all appliances to just one watt, the report said.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Related stories:
McMaster University unveils world's most advanced microscope
The most advanced and powerful electron microscope on the planet—capable of unprecedented resolution—has been installed in the new Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University.
NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm
NASA's Phoenix Lander is ready to begin moving its robotic arm, first unlatching its wrist and then flexing its elbow. Mission scientists are eager to move Phoenix's robotic arm, for that arm will deliver samples of icy terrain to their instruments made to study this unexplored Martian environment.
Driving water droplets uphill
Lab-on-a-chip technology could soon simplify a host of applications, thanks to a new way to move droplets up vertical surfaces on flexible chips.
Lab on a chip for cheap, portable medical tests
University of Alberta researchers in Edmonton, Canada, have developed a portable unit for genetic testing about the size of a shoebox, which has the same capability as a lab full of expensive equipment.
Hydrogen-Powered Cell Phone Doubles Battery Lifetime
A Canadian company has taken a significant step in the development of hydrogen-powered cell phones. Unlike previous attempts at hydrogen-powered phones, Angstrom Power´s prototype allows the fuel cell to fit comfortably inside the phone, and can last twice as long between refueling than phones powered with lithium ion batteries.
Phoenix: Tasks En Route to Mars Include Course Tweak, Gear Checks
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, launched on Aug. 4 and headed to Mars, fired its four trajectory correction thrusters Wednesday for only the second time. The 45.9-second burn nudged the spacecraft just the right amount to put it on a course to arrive at the red planet seven months from today.
Desktop Virtualization Is Starting to Expand
With virtualization fairly well established in the data center as a way to squeeze more out of x86 servers, top vendors, industry watchers and customers have started to turn more attention to getting that same type of potential out of the desktop.
D-Wave Demonstrated World's First Commercial Quantum Computer
The world's first commercially viable quantum computer was demonstrated yesterday in Silicon Valley by D-Wave Systems, Inc., a privately-held Canadian firm.