Home energy
Standby power and overnight baseload
Your baseload is the electricity your home uses when nobody is doing anything: fridges, routers, standby lights and devices left on. Because it runs all day, every day, a small load adds up.
Updated 3 October 2026 · energy.org.uk editorial team
How to measure it
- With a smart meter: look at your in-home display or app in the early hours, when nothing should be running except the fridge, freezer and router. The lowest steady figure, in watts, is roughly your baseload.
- With meter readings: read the meter last thing at night and first thing in the morning, with nothing on a timer. Divide the kWh used by the hours to get the average power.
Each 10 watts running all year uses about 88 kWh. Enter your figure in the appliance calculator as "Another appliance" to see what it costs.
What usually makes it up
- Fridges and freezers, which cycle on and off all day.
- Wi-Fi routers, broadband and phone equipment.
- Televisions, consoles and set-top boxes on standby.
- Chargers, smart speakers, doorbells and other small devices.
- Heating controls, alarms and pumps, some of which must stay on.
Energy Saving Trust estimates you could save around £45 a year in Great Britain, and £55 in Northern Ireland, by turning appliances off standby.
Check
What to check first
- Which devices can be switched off safely. Leave fridges, freezers, alarms, medical equipment and heating controls on.
- Devices that update overnight, such as some TVs and set-top boxes, which may need to stay on standby at times.
- Old fridges or freezers, which can be a large share of baseload. See replace an appliance or keep it?.
Do
Practical next steps
- Measure your baseload at night.
- Switch off one group of devices at the plug and measure again to see the difference.
- Use a standby saver or timer plug for televisions and computer equipment.
- Check your total use against typical homes in average household energy use.
Take care
Important limitations
- A smart meter display shows the whole home, so the figure includes anything that happened to switch on.
- Some equipment uses more power just after switching back on, so the saving from turning off for short periods is small.