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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: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2016, @12:23AM
From the article:
I really wish that reporters could talk about energy technology without screwing up their units. "32 billion kilowatts" is not a measure of energy, but power (energy usage over time). Let's assume they're talking about power. "32 billion kilowatts", or 32 terawatts, is more than the average global power consumption. So a reduction by such an extraordinary amount is simply impossible.
Perhaps the article instead meant a reduction of 32 billon kilowatt-hours (a measure of energy), i.e., 32 terawatt-hours, as a total energy savings over the past decade. Now this number is actually kind of pathetic. Annual energy consumption in the United States alone is about 1000 times that much. This paltry amount over the course of an entire decade isn't even a drop in the bucket.