An increasing amount of electricity is used by equipment while they are not fully "on"
and not fully "off." We call these low power modes "lopomos" (for LOw POwer
MOdes). "Standby" and "sleep" are the most familiar lopomos but some new products
already have many lopomos. Office equipment and consumer electronics were the earliest
products to have lopomos but lopomos are now becoming common in household
appliances, safety equipment, and miscellaneous products.
Lopomo energy use is responsible for about 10% of total electricity use in California
homes, or about 70 W per home. This corresponds to 900 MW of connected load. It is
likely to continue growing rapidly as products with high lopomo energy use penetrate the
market. For example, the TV digital converter box—which can draw as much as 20 W
when not in use—is likely to appear in every California home in the next five years. New
homes are required to install hard-wired smoke detectors and safety outlets, both of
which draw small amounts of power all the time. Other sectors, such as commercial
buildings and industry, also have lopomo energy use, perhaps totaling more in aggregate
than that in households but no comprehensive measurements have been made.
