Your lights are off. Your electricity meter is still moving. If you run a smart home, this is worth understanding — because the standby power of smart lights can differ by more than 20× between well-designed and poorly-designed products.
What We Measured
Using a basic power meter on 220V mains in the "light off" state:
| Product Type | Standby Power | Annual Cost (20 units) |
|---|---|---|
| Non-smart LED | 0W | $0 |
| Quality Zigbee smart light | 0.2–0.5W | ~$1–3 |
| Wi-Fi smart bulb | 0.8–1.5W | ~$5–10 |
| Low-cost Wi-Fi driver | 2–4W | ~$12–25 |
| Panel with always-on indicator | 3–5W | ~$18–37 |
At first glance the per-lamp numbers look small. Multiply by 20, 40, or 60 lights across a home, add gateways, routers, cameras and smart speakers, and the baseline load becomes noticeable.
Where the Power Goes
A smart light in the "off" state still has three active blocks:
- Radio module — Zigbee typically 0.1–0.3W, Wi-Fi 0.5–1.5W.
- Driver auxiliary supply — the AC-DC stage that keeps the MCU and radio alive.
- Indicator LEDs / sensors / relay hold — often cosmetic or over-engineered.
The sneakiest culprit is TRIAC dimmer compatibility. To work with legacy wall dimmers, some drivers keep a tiny conduction angle even when off. That alone can add 0.5–2W and cause a faint "ghost glow".
How to Avoid Standby Waste
- Prefer Zigbee or Matter over Thread over Wi-Fi direct for lighting.
- Check the datasheet for standby power and target ≤ 0.5W.
- Look for compliance with regional standards like GB/T 31831-2025.
- Disable unnecessary status LEDs and always-on night lights.
- Consider smart switches with dumb, high-quality LED lamps for the lowest standby load.
What We Do at NEXLAMP
Our Zigbee drivers use low-power sleep + fast wake, keeping standby under 0.3W. We use isolated flyback topology instead of non-isolated or TRIAC-based designs, and we leave status LEDs off by default. The goal: smart lighting should save energy, not quietly consume it around the clock.
If you have measured standby power on your own smart lights, drop your numbers in the comments.
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