Phantom power usage even with nothing plugged in?

SYNERGY

wormzer wrote: »

I've been working for years trying to whittle down our power usage with much success, and now I've received a new smart meter, which means I can get even more accuracy in my home power usage audits. SO. My house rests at about 120w power usage, and I've tracked down every watt with some surprises.

The biggest surprise is that I have one breaker named "SPA" that is constantly using 10w. I can NOT figure out where these 10w are going. The breaker includes our master bath spa (unplugged) and outlets at the sink (nothing plugged in) and still I see a 10w jump every time I flip this breaker on.

What might I be missing? 10w in the bathroom somewhere? Or some other hidden home item? What else might be on this breaker? It's a newish home, built in 2001. Thanks for any advice here. I was not able to find anything else online but it might just be hard to search for.

matt

Though you say that the bath etc is unplugged, by that I presume you refer to the pump, are there any safety monitoring / control circuits that may be wired to the breaker, but separate from the pump ?

By these I mean such as water level monitor to ensure the pump doesn't run dry, water temperature monitor if the bath has an electrical water heater to maintain water temperature, electronic touch button controllers instead of air switches, ozone producers etc.

As you say, it may not be a large amount, but it is intriguing as to what it may be and though switching off the breaker removes the load, when the breaker is switched on there is a circuit somewhere that will be live, or hot as you say in the USA. :eek:

Better to find what it is to be safe.

Let us know when you find out what it is.

Can you obtain a wiring diagram for the spa bath electrics that may give a clue ?