How much power your TV uses in standby

When you switch a smart TV off with the remote, it does not switch off. It enters standby, and in that state it carries on doing things: listening for the wake word if it has a microphone, keeping the network up, syncing recommendations and, on some models, downloading advertising to have it ready.

How much

European ecodesign rules cap standby consumption, but allow exceptions for "networked standby", which is the mode smart TVs use. In practice, a connected television in standby uses considerably more than one that is simply off.

Across a year, left in that state around the clock, it shows up on the bill. Not dramatic, and not zero either.

Where it comes from

Quick start. The option that makes the television boot in two seconds instead of fifteen keeps half the system awake. Far and away the biggest consumer.

Wake on LAN and network control. Keeps the network interface active.

A far-field microphone, if it has one.

Background tasks. Updates, guide syncing, content preloading.

Reducing it

Switch off quick start. Settings → Device preferences → Power, or similar. You lose a few seconds turning it on and gain the rest.

Remove what runs in the background. Telemetry and recommendation services carry on working in standby. Another argument for what we document here.

Take it off the network if the television is only a screen.

A switched power strip, for a real cut. Bear in mind some televisions lose their clock setting and take longer to start.

Checking it

With a power meter plugged between the strip and the television. They cost little and are revealing: plenty of people discover this way that their "switched off" television draws as much as a router.

Why this is worth knowing

It is one more argument in the same direction: a television doing fewer things in the background runs better, sends less data and uses less power. All three go together and come from the same work.