Measuring Standby Power

Measurement of the power and energy consumed by common domestic and office appliances when they are in standby mode provides several challenges. Not only are the current and power levels very low (in the region 10 milliwatt to 1 watt) but standby power is often drawn in irregular bursts from the AC line.

Special features of Tektronix power analyzers that enable accurate yet easy-to-use solutions for standby power measurement:

Low current Spiral Shunt™ fitted as standard for high resolution mW measurements
Standby mode for fast measurements during power supply and appliance development.
0.05% basic accuracy for IEC62301 Ed.2 and IEC50564 full compliance standby power testing with the included PWRVIEW pc software.

Break-out box makes the special connections required for accurate standby power measurement safe and easy.

Recommended Equipment

PA1000 Series	Accurate and versatile single-phase power analyzer / wattmeter for power, energy and efficiency measurements on power supplies and any product connected to the AC line.
PA3000 Series	0.01% basic accuracy, multi-phase power analyzer. Measure voltage and current on up to four channels. Characterize watts, VA, VAR, watt-hours and harmonics.
PWRVIEW	PC software operates over USB or LAN. Comprehensive set up and data log of power analyzer measurements includes compliance IEC62301 Ed.2 reporting. PWRVIEW software includes a virtual instrument. Download today and run the software as if an instrument is connected. (Hold down ‘shift’ when searching for instruments to see a list).

Library

Title
Standby Power Primer What is Standby Power? Standby power refers to the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. Lawrence Berkeley National …
Making Fluorescent Lamp Ballast Measurements with The Tektronix PA1000 Power Analyzer Learn how to make accurate high-frequency lighting ballast power and efficiency measurements with high-bandwidth Tektronix power analyzers.
Fundamentals of AC Power Measurements Power analysis involves some measurements, terms and calculations that may be new and possibly confusing to engineers and technicians who are new to this discipline. And today's power …
Power Measurements on AC-DC Power Supplies 1.Introduction AC to DC power supplies are fully integrated into our daily lives. They are the heart of all our electronics, providing energy for the everyday devices that we rely on …

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Wide Bandgap Applications Wide Bandgap power devices (SiC and GaN) offer significant benefits and are smaller, faster and more efficient than their silicon counterpart. But they also present several validation challenges …
Ground Loops: What Are They, Why Should We Care, and How Can They Be Fixed? Power rail noise is one of the most significant sources of jitter in high-speed systems, phase noise in RF systems, and noise in A/D and D/A converters. Semiconductor manufacturers are responding by …
Making Standby Power Measurement Webinar Jon Francis, Marketing Manager for Power Analyzers, talks about some of the challenges you’ll face when measuring standby power. He describes some of the parameters that are unique to the IEC62301 Ed …