As energy costs continue to concern many homeowners, I decided to test whether a simple habit could reduce my electricity usage: unplugging the microwave when it was not being used. Like many appliances, a microwave can continue consuming a small amount of electricity while sitting idle because its clock, memory, and other standby functions remain active.

This type of electricity use is often called phantom load or standby power. Curious about whether the small amount of energy could actually make a noticeable difference, I conducted a two-week experiment. I used an electricity monitor along with my utility company’s tracking tools to measure how much power the microwave consumed while it was simply plugged in.

The results showed that my microwave used approximately 3 watts while idle. Although that seemed insignificant, leaving it connected continuously could add up to roughly 26 kilowatt-hours over an entire year.

However, the experiment also showed that the microwave’s standby consumption was tiny compared with major household energy users such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and water heaters.