Am I using electricity when hairdryer plugged in?

I do both of those. Will be interesting to see replies.

No.

No - I leave mine plugged in and if they was any question of it using electricity the OH would go ballistic!

Thanks for your replies.

No, I leave mine plugged in and if it was using power, it would show up on my newly acquired smart meter gadget.

I'm glad someone asked this. DH leaves his phone charger plugged in, without the phone connected but with the socket switch on. Is there then electricity coming through it? He says no, I say yes, because a connection has been made. Who is right? What constitutes a connection?

My phone always tells me to unplug the charger to save electricity . I don't always do this , and I leave my Kindle charger plugged in , no doubt I am wrong . Only thing is I have been told that I am creating an electric lolly if a crawling baby sucks it ............. they are in short supply here though

aggie my phone also tells me to unplug to save electricity.

Greyduster I would say that you are correct, as you have said, a connection has been made and if you poked a pin into it I think that you would notice a difference, maybe catapulted across the room!!!!!

I'll make sure I don't do that then, Charleygirl!. Seriously, thanks for that - it's no wonder our lekkie bills are so high!

We have just had a charging socket fitted, I was worried in case DGD2 fiddled with the chargers which are left plugged in but was assured they were safe.

I don't think they are, so I will unplug them when she comes.

I think that as long as the socket is turned off at the wall, no electricity can or will get through, and even if you stick a metal knitting needle in one of the holes you won't get electrocuted.

I'm not so sure about whether that's the case if the switch is on though.

Probably not, when I think about it!

I meant to say with the socket switched on.

I understand chargers still use a little electricity. My phone charger gets warm so I always switch the socket off when the phone isn't connected to the charger.

A hairdryer wouldn't. Nor would a kettle unless it had LED lights and what they use is negligible.

Surely it's not a case of 'connection' but of a completed circuit when power is drawn... When the hairdryer is switched on, the switch completes a circuit, and the current flows.

Whereas the phone charger is turned on once the socket is switched on. It doesn't have it's own on/off switch. The phone then charges when it in turn is connected. (I can hear my father's voice here - I hope he's telling me right!)

A kettle or hairdryer that uses power directly will not be using any power unless it is in use. The switch at the plug can be on, but if the one on the appliance is off there is no complete circuit.

A charger will be trying to charge whatever is plugged into it if it detects that it needs charging. If it is fully charged it will not be putting any more electricity into it, so not using any power. I don't how a charger can use power if nothing is charging on it, but an electrician might have a different answer.

If the phone (or whatever is being charged) is not plugged into the charger, then there is not a complete circuit, so surely no power should be flowing? (nowhere to flow to, the connections that the phone makes are not made when it is not there.) However, sticking a knitting needle into the connection if it is switched ON will complete the circuit and cause power to flow - THROUGH YOU - to the ground.

If it is switched off at the power point, the knitting needle should be safe but not advisable (sometimes switches are wired up wrongly!

If you leave a light fitting on but with no bulb in, does the electicity drip out onto the floor .

"I don't how a charger can use power if nothing is charging on it"

Because the charger circuit itself needs power, but not a lot, perhaps 10% or so of what it draws whilst charging.

"However, sticking a knitting needle into the connection if it is switched ON will complete the circuit and cause power to flow - THROUGH YOU - to the ground."

I'm not quite sure where you're talking about sticking it, but if it's in the little plug that goes in the phone it won't hurt you for two reasons. Firstly the charger output is isolated from the mains, and from ground, and secondly it's only low voltage.

If you stick the needle in the bottom right hole of the mains socket you will get electrocuted if the switch is on, and you're touching something grounded at the same time. There's a safety shutter in there to stop you doing it though, unless you open the shutter by sticking something into the top (earth) pin.

Kettles and hairdryers don't draw anything when switched off at the appliance. TVs don't cost as much as they used to since they set new lower standards for standby current, my TV costs about 50p a year on standby.

Like when we had a gas leak, and I put a bucket under it...

I've always wondered why anyone would stick a knitting needle into a socket. If a person is that daft, they shouldn't be allowed to play with knitting needles anyway.

And if they're that daft then the world would be a safer place if they were removed from the gene pool.

Yesterday, DH cut the lawn and plugged the mower into a circuit breaker which we leave permanently in that socket. When he unplugged the mower, he didn't turn the socket switch off. Hours later, before we went to bed, I noticed it was still on, and when I put my hand on the circuit breaker, it was warm. When the socket is switched off, it is cold . Does the circuit breaker constitute a connection in its own right?

NFK My cousin, as a child, was fascinated by electrical sockets and tried the knitting needle trick, but was lucky, I think in choosing the right (wrong?) hole. He grew up to be an electrical engineer.