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Whatever you call it, the humble AC adapter, external power supply, plug pack, plug-in adapter, domestic mains adapter, line power adapter, wall wart, or power brick is due for significant changes next month.
The U.S. Level VI energy-efficiency regulation, aimed at energy savings in external power supplies, goes into force on February 10, 2016, and will impact all OEMs selling into the U.S. market. The European Union (EU) also is expected to harmonize with the new efficiency standard.
This article includes a quote (& pun) from one power supply vendor,
"It's a two-pronged approach," said Johnson. "The regulation addresses active mode when the adapter is powered up and supplying power to the end product. Under the regulation, efficiency is increased by roughly five percent."
But the big change is at no load when the adapter is plugged into the wall – like a cell phone charger – and nothing is connected to it, Johnson added. "Power consumption at Level IV was .5 watt and at Level VI it's decreasing to .1 watt, which when you talk about the millions of adapters in the market it's significant in power savings."
Another article can be found at http://www.metlabs.com/blog/energy-star-2/external-power-supplies-must-meet-level-vi-energy-efficiency-requirements-for-u-s-doe-by-february-2016/
US Department of Energy has an information page with several linked documents
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/28
"Rulemaking for Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies Energy Conservation Standard"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Saturday January 02 2016, @01:35PM
And unless you use power strips that have individual switches for each outlet on the strip, you're stuck unplugging the chargers and plugging them back in every time you want to use the charger.
Personally, I think that's really too much work for such a small amount of savings. Electricity around here is cheap and most of those adapters use so little electricity when turned off that it doesn't even register on the meter when I was checking.
This is a change that will have impact because of the number of adapters that are effected, you're not likely to get enough people remembering to unplug their electronics from the wall frequently enough to make it a worthwhile strategy.
OTOH, I bought a power strip a couple years ago that automatically cuts power to the other items plugged in. I use it on the entertainment center as there's no need for my Roku and Bluray player to be powered on when the TV isn't.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday January 02 2016, @05:22PM
Agreed, nobody is going to switch off all the wall warts in a typical house or office. Not happening.
On the other hand they should, in this day and age, be able to use far less than a tenth of a watt to determine if there is anything drawing current from them. Seems excessive give today's electronics.
Where there's one wall wart, there is usually 5 more within a couple of meters. Some long forgotten. The only thing that keeps them at bay seems to be the shortage of outlets. Additional power strips just make matters worse.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.