Are USB sockets wasteful?

ABFG

I had 20 put in recently (BG manufacturer, 3A rated). Max standby consumption is 75mW, for which I worked out that the standby cost at 30p/kWh would be just under £4. So it would take a long time to get any type of payback at all.

Bear in mind as well the potential reduced costs (and other wastage) to you and the environment at large. The hope is not having to buy again any of the mains to USB charging ports, which tend to be fairly disposable or expensive for what they are.

ABFG

ABFG said:

I had 20 put in recently (BG manufacturer, 3A rated). Max standby consumption is 75mW, for which I worked out that the standby cost at 30p/kWh would be just under £4. So it would take a long time to get any type of payback at all.

Bear in mind as well the potential reduced costs (and other wastage) to you and the environment at large. The hope is not having to buy again any of the mains to USB charging ports, which tend to be fairly disposable or expensive for what they are.

Not allowed to edit yet - it's £4 per year

GKAAP

ABFG said:

I had 20 put in recently (BG manufacturer, 3A rated). Max standby consumption is 75mW, for which I worked out that the standby cost at 30p/kWh would be just under £4. So it would take a long time to get any type of payback at all.

Bear in mind as well the potential reduced costs (and other wastage) to you and the environment at large. The hope is not having to buy again any of the mains to USB charging ports, which tend to be fairly disposable or expensive for what they are.

Thanks, this is a brilliant answer.

I've decided to change the ones where I don't use the USB function and keep the ones where I do.

EssexHebridean

Sounds like a decent compromise. With the likes of @pple etc tending not to provide charging plugs with devices now I find our USB sockets incredibly useful - if only to extend the lifespan of the charging plugs I do still have! 

Astria

EssexHebridean said:

Sounds like a decent compromise. With the likes of @pple etc tending not to provide charging plugs with devices now I find our USB sockets incredibly useful - if only to extend the lifespan of the charging plugs I do still have! 

Just remember a few things:

It's typically more expensive to change a power socket when the USB part fails rather than just a charging plug.

A power socket typically is only generic, it can't support communication so most devices will takes substantially longer to charge and some may not charge at all. For example, my phone says it'll take 6 hours to charge when plugged into such a socket, or 1 hr 30 when plugged into a charging plug.