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Surely you've already happened: you unplug your phone, but you leave the charger plugged into the socket. It sounds harmless, almost natural, especially when you're in a hurry. Yet this habit that many of us share can cause much more serious damage than you think. Find out why it is essential to disconnect your charger when it is not used.
Risk of overheating and fire: a risk underestimated
Leaving a charger plugged in, even without a connected telephone, can cause overheating. Why? Because it continues to consume energy, generating heat. A poor or defective magazine can then melt, explode or even cause a fire.
A concrete example: in 2022, a family in Spain saw their house go up in smoke because of a charger that was plugged in all night. The origin of the fire? A simple charger that, by heating, ignited a piece of furniture nearby.
Leaving a charger plugged in unattended is a bit like leaving a hotplate on: it can do most of the time, but it only takes once for everything to flip.
Phantom energy consumption: a hidden expense on your bill
Even without a connected device, a connected charger consumes electricity, a phenomenon called phantom energy consumption. Of course, the amount of energy consumed by an inactive charger is low, but it is not nil.
To give you an idea, a charger left behind consumes between 0.1 and 0.5 watts per hour. It sounds insignificant, but if you have several chargers permanently connected, it can be up to an extra 5 kWh per year, or about 2 to 5 dollars more on your electricity bill.
To limit this unnecessary expense, consider using multi-plugs with switches or smart sockets that automatically cut off the power supply when you are not using them. A small gesture that, in the long run, can really make a difference.
Reducing the lifetime of the charger: a direct impact on your wallet
A charger left plugged in without use is not spared wear. Internal components may deteriorate more rapidly, thereby reducing their effectiveness over time. This can cause:
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