Australia is not alone in recognising the serious problem posed by excessive standby power use to national greenhouse gas reduction and energy efficiency goals. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has facilitated member nations to coordinate a common approach to this problem. It advocates that members develop long-term plans to reduce the use of standby power over time – a recommendation that Australian jurisdictions have embraced.

In August 2000, all Australian jurisdictions agreed to:

“…pursue efficiencies in standby power consumption of energy-consuming products, through support for the International Energy Agency’s One -Watt program, and endorse its incorporation into the…program of work.”

Australia was the first nation to publicly state that it would pursue the ‘one-watt’ target under the banner of the IEA standby power initiative. This target sought to raise awareness about excessive standby power consumption amongst not only suppliers but also product purchasers. It was meant to demonstrate to suppliers both in Australia and internationally that excessive standby power consumption should be redressed through better design practice and other strategies. It was meant to demonstrate to consumers that Australian Governments were acting to reduce excessive standby power consumption on their behalf.

Since Australia’s announcement, other IEA member countries such as Japan and the USA have taken similar stands. For example, US President Bush released an Executive Order in July 2001 in which he stated:

“Each [federal] agency…shall purchase products that use no more than one watt in their standby power consuming mode.”

Australia has also supported the development of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard defining the technical method for the measurement of standby power (published in 2005 as IEC62301 Ed. 1.0). The Australian and New Zealand standard (AS/NZS 62301:2005) is an adoption of this standard with national modifications to take account of Australian/New Zealand conditions.

With the international effort gaining momentum, the Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee (E3 Committee), on behalf of the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE), sought ideas and a response to a discussion paper consultation process in 2002. In a process throughout 2002, Government agencies consulted with stakeholders about ideas to reduce standby power consumption. The standby strategy is a result of that dialogue with stakeholders.

With most consumer products traded internationally, any Australian action can only be effective if in step with international endeavours. That said, Australia has been a “standard bearer” in this field and will continue to adopt actions to reduce standby to reasonable levels. It will continue to help other nations to identify and redress excessive standby power.

Definition of “Standby”

Appliances and equipment with a “standby mode” may include any household product that consumes power while not performing its primary function. A simple definition of “standby” is when an appliance is at its lowest power consumption when connected to mains power, even if the appliance is turned off (lowest power mode that can be influenced by the user). However, “standby” is better defined under various modes and for the purpose of this research, standby modes were defined as follows:

Power Measurement Fields

Off

When a product or appliance is connected to a power source but does not produce any sound or picture, transmit or receive information or is waiting to be switched “on” by the consumer. If the product has a remote control, it cannot be woken by the remote control from off mode. While the product may be doing some internal functions in off mode (e.g. memory functions, EMC filters) these are not obvious to the user.

Passive Standby

When a product or appliance is not performing its main function but it is ready to be switched on (in most cases with a remote control) or is performing some secondary function (e.g. has a display or clock). This mode also applies to power supplies for battery-operated equipment (portable appliances which are intended to be used when disconnected from the base station) when the appliance is not being charged.

Active Standby:

Active standby is mostly applicable to VCRs and some stereo equipment where operating involves some mechanical drive (such as DVD and CD players). Active standby is when the appliance on but not performing its main function. For example, the VCR may be on but is not playing or recording. This mode also applies to power supplies for battery-operated equipment (portable appliances) when the appliance is being charged (various sub-modes).

Delay Start:

Delay start mode was measured for the first time in the 2003/04 survey. This feature is fast becoming commonplace on many major appliances. Essentially the appliance can be programmed to begin functioning at a later time; in some cases up to 24 hours later. Appliances left in this mode are in neither active nor passive standby and therefore it was decided to measure this mode as a separate category. The effect this mode will have on consumption will largely be determined by consumer behaviour. The recent EES (2005) intrusive survey found between 20 to 25% of consumers used this function when it is available.

Field Descriptions

The table following describes the fields in the file. As the survey methods were improved over the years, more information was collected and hence some earlier years data do not contain all the fields.

Field Name	Description
Data Source	Source of data – survey or manufacturer supplied
Year	Year of survey or manufacturer supplied data
Month	Month of survey or manufacturer supplied data
Survey Item Number	ID number for survey
Profile	The broad category of appliance
Appliance	The appliance type
Brand/ Manufacturer	Brand or Manufacturer
Model	Model name/number with no spaces
Price	Retail price of item found in store
Size	Size of item where applicable/collected (see units in table of Modes for description of size field for a particular appliance
Hard Off switch?	The presence of a hard off switch. Yes, No, Switches appliance to standby mode (S), Both hard off switch and standby switch are present (HS)
Remote Control?	The presence of a remote control (Yes)
Energy Label?	The presence of an Energy Rating or EnergyStar label
In-use	Power consumption in Watts in this mode (if applicable)
Active Standby	Power consumption in Watts in this mode (if applicable)
Passive Standby	Power consumption in Watts in this mode (if applicable)
Off	Power consumption in Watts in this mode (if applicable)
Delay Start	Power consumption in Watts in this mode (if applicable)
EPS Only	Power consumption in Watts for External Power Supply (if applicable)
Notes	Survey notes for a particular item (if applicable)

Modes Tested by Appliance
Appliance List	In Use	Active Standby	Passive Standby	Delay Start	Off	EPS*(likely)
Air Conditioner			X	X	X
AV Receiver		X	X		X
Breadmaker		X			X
Computers – Box					X
Computers – Home Theatre Box	X		X		X
Computers – Laptop					X	X
Computers – Monitor	X		X		X	X
Computers – Speakers		X			X	X
Computers – Other		X	X		X
Cordless Phone		X	X			X
Dishwasher		X		X	X
Dryer		X		X	X
DVD Player		X	X		X
DVD Recorder		X	X		X
Espresso Machine					X
Facsimile		X			X
Fan			X	X	X
Game Console		X			X
Gas Water Heaters			X
Hand-held Vacuum		X	X			X
Hard Disk Recorder	X	X	X		X
Heater – Electric Portable			X	X	X
Heater – Gas			X	X	X
Home Entertainment Other		X	X		X	X
Home Theatre Systems		X	X		X
Juicer					X
Microwave			X			X
Mobile Phone		X				X
Modem		X	X		X	X
Multi Function Device		X			X	X
Printer – Injet			X		X	X
Printer – Laser			X		X
Set Top Box				X
Stereo – Integrated		X	X		X
Stereo – Portable		X	X		X
Stereo – Component		X	X		X
Subwoofer		X	X		X
Toaster					X
TV – LCD	X		X		X
TV – Plasma	X		X		X
TV – Projection	X		X		X
TV – CRT	X		X		X
TV/VCR	X	X	X		X
VCR		X	X		X
Washer/Dryer		X		X	X
Washing Machines (all types)		X		X	X