Do smart plugs use electricity themselves?

Yes, roughly half a watt to a watt each while idle. That is why they are worth putting on loads that draw meaningfully more than that, and not on a phone charger that draws almost nothing when idle.

How much can I save with smart plugs?

It depends entirely on what you switch off and your rate. The honest method is to meter the device first: watts divided by 1,000, times the hours it would have been idle, times your cents per kWh.

Smart plug or smart power strip?

A plug for one device; a strip when several devices sit together and one of them must stay powered. Strips also cut cable clutter behind a TV.

Will they keep working if the internet drops?

Most keep their local schedule and the physical button. Remote control and voice stop until the connection returns.

Buying guide

Best smart plugs for cutting standby power

Smart plugs are the cheapest way to find and stop the electricity your house uses while nobody is using anything.

Explore all products Free guide: 10 key tips

Standby, or phantom, load is the trickle drawn by consoles, chargers, TVs, printers and speakers that are technically off. Individually tiny; across a whole house it runs continuously, all year.

A metering plug is worth buying before anything else because it turns guessing into measuring: you see the watts, then you decide whether a schedule or an off switch is worth it.

Last updated 2026-09-15. Savings ranges are estimates based on typical US usage and electricity rates. Your actual result depends on your habits, local rate and how much the device is used — nothing here is a guaranteed saving.

How we chose

Does it measure watts, or only switch?
Can it switch on a schedule without the app open?
Does it control several devices at once where that matters?
Is the price low enough to pay back on ordinary standby loads?

We don't publish invented test data or guaranteed dollar savings. Where numbers appear, the arithmetic is shown so you can run it on your own bill.

Run your own numbers in the calculator

Questions people ask

Do smart plugs use electricity themselves?: Yes, roughly half a watt to a watt each while idle. That is why they are worth putting on loads that draw meaningfully more than that, and not on a phone charger that draws almost nothing when idle.
How much can I save with smart plugs?: It depends entirely on what you switch off and your rate. The honest method is to meter the device first: watts divided by 1,000, times the hours it would have been idle, times your cents per kWh.
Smart plug or smart power strip?: A plug for one device; a strip when several devices sit together and one of them must stay powered. Strips also cut cable clutter behind a TV.
Will they keep working if the internet drops?: Most keep their local schedule and the physical button. Remote control and voice stop until the connection returns.

Keep reading

Free guide

10 Key Tips to Lower Your Electric Bill

A short, practical PDF you can work through in a weekend. No fluff, no hype — just the changes that move a real electric bill.

The 3 changes that cut the most kWh first
A room-by-room LED swap checklist
How to read your bill and spot the expensive habits
Where phantom loads hide — and how to measure them