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This question is an extension of How much power do smart sockets consume themselves?, namely, do smart sockets consume power while turned off, as opposed to when they are put on standby?

Some smart sockets, such as the TP-Link HS100, come with an additional power button that allows you to turn the device off entirely. In this mode, many of the features of the device are turned off, such as lights, Wi-Fi and software. However, does the socket still consume a small amount of electricity in this state? More than it would if it were unplugged or had the socket it was plugged into switched off?

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    Interesting question; do you have an example of such a switch that you could link to here?
    – Aurora0001
    Commented Dec 26, 2017 at 10:49
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    Good suggestion @Aurora0001, I have a TP Link socket (tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-5516_HS100.html), which is what prompted the question.
    – Sean Kelleher
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 13:58
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the only actual way to know is to ask the manufacturer of a given device, or measure its consumption or dissect and examine it. No general statement can be made about what a switch would do on all such devices. More practically, if you unplug it from the wall socket, you know what it is then consuming.
    – Chris Stratton
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 17:04
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    @ChrisStratton You're right that the question may be too vague to answer in a specific way. However, I chose this phrasing because I'm looking for responses similar in spirit to those in the linked question, that go into the details of what's possible; in short, I believe a general statement can be made. I thought this might be a better fit for an electronics stack exchange, but decided on this site because of the relationship with the linked question. The referenced device was linked simply to illustrate the functionality for those that may not be familiar with it. Thanks for your feedback.
    – Sean Kelleher
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 22:53
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    @SeanKelleher given that, more fundamentally the questions seems to be in conflict with the emphasis on specificity that applies across the entire Stack Exchange system. "What could they do" questions are fundamentally too broad - that kind of speculation isn't without merit, but it's not within the intentionally narrow mission of the Stack Exchange system, and would rather fit on some sort of discussion forum.
    – Chris Stratton
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 22:56

1 Answer 1

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Off does imply off. But I suspect that the only way to get a definitive answer will be to plug one into a test rig.

Having said that what benefit does one of these off switches give? If all the smart features are disabled and the only way to enable them is to push the button again then you might as well just turn it off at the wall.

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    I was thinking that, but I do think that it would still provide some convenience if you could turn the device off fully (as if it was turned off at the wall) in an automated way, even if it still needed to be turned on manually.
    – Sean Kelleher
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 14:01

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