USB Wall Charger
Published Monday December 12, 2016:
I love the built in USB wall chargers. They look amazing and really do free up the clutter of charging up all our devices. They also don’t walk off like the plug in ones when someone else needs a USB charger at another location.
But what about the phantom power of such devices? While most wall warts today have nearly non-existent phantom power, I wanted to know how these built-in USB wall chargers performed in this area.
Seeing nothing online about phantom power of built in USB wall chargers, I decided to find out for myself.
Using a Kill-A-Watt meter and a test cable, I effectively added a plug to the screws of the built-in wall charger.
Phantom Power:
It turns out this USB Wall Charger has no measurable phantom power, at least nothing that a Kill-A-Watt meter can detect.
Nice! 0.0 watts is a number that an energy obsessed guy like me can live with.
Just to be certain, I plugged in an iPhone to charge it up.
Power draw shot up to 7.7 watts (or 1.54 Amps at 5 Volts, that sounds about right). Each USB outlet can deliver up to 2 Amps.
We have had one of these installed in our dining room computer nook for several months and it has worked flawlessly.
The other day, one of my children was expressing frustration that someone kept walking off with their iPad charger.
With Christmas coming up, that gave me an idea. Stocking stuffers.
Why buy one when you can get three for 3x the price?
