Plugging the plug load data hole

Plug loads—electrical devices that plug into an outlet—are huge energy hogs, accounting for as much as 15% of all residential electricity consumption and 20% of commercial consumption. Because this category encompasses a range of devices—from smartphone chargers to major appliances—it’s difficult to find comprehensive and reliable data on how much power different plug loads draw and what their associated energy consumption is.

To get around this problem, we’ve compiled hundreds of results from plug-load reports into our Plug loads spreadsheet (XLSX). All the data come from independent sources—including the US Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Fraunhofer USA, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ecova, and the Electric Power Research Institute—and are updated on a regular basis. For every plug load listed, we’ve included the most recent or representative available data on estimated average annual energy consumption and, where available, information on the power drawn in active, idle, and off modes plus the average time spent in each mode per day. We also provide links and references to the original source data.