Appliances with an off light.
Appliances with an off light.
In the last few years I have purchased a pressure cooker and an air fryer. They both waste electricity by having an off light. Furthermore they act like red nightlights and my kitchen has an eerie red glow at night. What is the actual purpose for off lights besides to waste electricity?
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Off lights let you know if it's broken. If it's on, it's obviously working. If it's off and the light is on, it's getting power. If it's off and plugged in, but not displaying the light - that indicates it's broken or not getting power.
You could also just try turning it on to see if it has power. I don't see how the light is actually useful for this.
The power draw from a single LED is nearly negligible. If it's a heating appliance, for example, it's several magnitudes more wasteful to turn it on, just to see if it heats properly. Even with other electronics the LED quickly tests functionality with almost zero power without having to power up the entire system which would use a ton of energy, since it assumes it is about to be used for its purpose. It can also be an early warning of failure, I wouldn't use a heating appliance whose off light failed, because if the electronic failed, turning it on could hurt the whole house circuit or further damage the appliance itself. The light is a quick “hey, I need service” warning. Just like cars, those warning lights have meaning and use, they aren't just a decoration.
The power indicator bulbs in these kinds of kitchen appliances are rarely LEDs. They are usually neon indicator lamps. They're pretty durable and have been in use far longer than LEDs.
https://youtu.be/nyYjnV99wfM?si=xq4fxzbOM3ADtBPx&start=106
No, they usually are just LED's these days.
Still seems useless. I never turn my appliances on just to see if they work. I just...use it. If it doesn't do anything, then I know it's broken.
It's also not just a single LED. In your house, yes, but multiply that by however many appliances in the wild have that same "feature" and the power wastage is much more real. It's the same reason it's recommended to unplug phone chargers and such when they're not being used.
Vampire power, I believe, is the term. It's when millions of tiny power loads add up to a significant overall draw while performing no useful work.
however many appliances in the wild
Vampire power is a thing, but not really that huge since regulations have launched the 1W initiative. The vampire power consumed by the average house in the US is less than a thousandth of the entire energy consumption. Less than a dollar per year. Of course, over a couple million homes we are talking about a few million dollars, that's not nothing. But also, it's less than a 0.001% of the entire grid residential electrical consumption. To cut power emissions and usage, that's almost a non-issue at best, a distraction at worse.
That makes no sense to me. Why not have an on light instead? If the light is on, and the device is operating as expected, that's good. If the light is off then it has no power or it's broken. If the light is on and nothing is happening, it's broken.
If the light is going to be annoying when the device is on, then turn it off after a few seconds.
Seems like a solution in search of a problem.
Seems reasonable on something dangerous like a toaster oven or pressure cooker that you obviously wouldn't want to leave on and unattended. These lights use almost no power at all.