Warning To Riser/recliner Chair Users

[paul1763]

hi AB'ers not to sure where to put this, i've got one of those riser/recliner chairs and today wanted to see how many watts it used when lifting/lowering it, so plugged in a watt meter and was totally shocked to see it drawing 14 watts when doing nothing. i dread to think how much this has cost to run as mine is switched on at the wall 24/7 for last 5 years at least. So if any of you folk use these and leave them plugged in, at least try to find out their stand by power usage and maybe save yourselves a fortune over the years.

[RATTER15]

How can it be consuming electricity if doing nothing?

Im not very informed on such things; but that doesn't sound right to me!

[Cloverjo]

It doesn't sound right to me either. Watts are a measure of power output, I believe, not the amount of electricity being used.

[TWR]

I should think the power output should be stated in the Chair's Info.

[Dogsbody2]

Watts are a measure of power consumed.

If this device has no main switch and is not switched off at the wall socket, it is sitting in standby mode so consumes a small amount of power doing nothing.

[RATTER15]

TWR, the point is.... the chair appears to be consuming power when not even in use!

[New Judge]

I would not be too horrified.

14 watts is about a third of a KWh per day. At the price I pay for leccy that works out to about 4p per day or 27p per week.

[Dogsbody2]

To elaborate further, most have rechargeable batteries that back up. These are monitored in standby so see if they need recharging. Some power loss caused by that.

[Old_Geezer]

If we assume about 15p per kw hour that'd be about 5p a day or £18.41 a year for 14 watt drain ? Assuming I have the sums right.

I am unsure what a chair has to drive when motionless but I guess something is on so called "standby" ? Still it'd help keep you warm in the winter.

[bhg481]

One of our TVs is 0.5watt on standby, so I can't see how a chair can be as much as 14watts. I'm more inclined to think that the meter is wrong at low values.

[Dogsbody2]

The standby circuits, OG. 14W is not a lot of losses, TVs in standby mode are perhaps of the same small order.

[Dogsbody2]

New TVs are limited to 1W in standby mode by EU legislation. Old ones used a dozen or so watts. This seems similar.

[Old_Geezer]

Wow loads of previous posts that wasn't there when I started typing. I knew I should not have checked that electricity price twice before committing to print !

[whiskeryron]

The recliner chair that I have uses a mains transformer which is constantly buzzing when not in use. Surely this is using some electricity whilst just standing. Should I be switching it off at the mains until I need to use it ?

[Old_Geezer]

Only if the buzzing drives you mad. There is a small financial saving to do so during warmer weather, but if as Dogsbody says, it is recharging batteries, you may regret switching it off when you want to use it again.

[paul1763]

thanks, i thought it may use some, but not that much. Going by your 1st post OG that works out not far off £100 over the last 5 years. Dogsbody2 mine doesn't have rechargeable batteries but has got 2 PP3 connectors hanging out the bottom of the transformer so nothing on charge. Whiskeryron the wall socket that mine plugs into is hard to reach so i intend to cut the mains cable and put a switch in line next to where the lift/lower switch is stored. thanks everyone else for your usual speedy replies.

[Dodger666]

If you have the transformer plugged in, and switched on, it will consume a small amount of power energising the primary winding of the transformer even if nothing is plugged into it. That is why consumers are told not to leave mobile phone chargers etc switched on all day and night doing nothing.