The amount of power used by certain household appliances while they are in so-called standby mode -- switched off but still plugged into sockets -- accounts for 9.4 percent of total power consumption in an average Japanese home, a report released by a Ministry of International Trade and Industry affiliate said Saturday.
The average yearly bill for power consumed by appliances on standby mode comes to about 9,800 yen per year, according to the Tokyo-based Energy Conservation Center, Japan.
The center carried out two surveys on households' power consumption. In the first, it measured the amount of power consumed by 1,000 appliances on standby mode at 51 households in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In the second, it examined usage patterns for appliances at 930 households nationwide, including whether appliances were unplugged or left on standby mode.
The center said it found that annual average power consumption by appliances on standby mode totaled 398 kilowatts per household, or some 9.4 percent of total household power consumption.
By type of appliance, the standby power requirement of video cassette recorders was 96.6 kw on average, or 24 percent of the total standby power requirement for households, while gas water heaters and stereos each accounted for 12 percent of the total.
Experts say the standby power requirement has increased in recent years, reflecting the growing number of appliances that can be operated by remote control.
The center said consumers can cut their annual standby power requirement by up to 24 percent by turning off main power switches of appliances with remote control devices when they are not in use.
Consumers can also reduce their annual standby power requirement by up to 42 percent by unplugging appliances such as washing machines when they are not in use.