During the Christmas and New Year holiday break, many businesses close or operate with only a handful of staff. With buildings sitting mostly idle, it provides a perfect opportunity to cut unnecessary energy use. By shutting down equipment, turning off lighting and cooling and tracking “phantom loads”, businesses can save money, reduce emissions, and build better energy habits for the year ahead. Small actions taken now can make a surprisingly big difference.
The Phantom Load Problem
When a workplace shuts down, electricity use doesn’t always shut down with it. Many offices leave lights, devices, and even cooling systems running despite no one being there. These hidden and often unnoticed draws on power are known as phantom loads, energy used by devices that are switched off but still plugged in or on standby (Green Ambassador Challenges, 2025).
During the holiday period, when the building is empty for extended stretches, this wasted electricity can accumulate quickly. For example:
- Standby loads can account for a meaningful amount of electricity use when devices remain plugged in unnecessarily.
- Switching off non-essential equipment such as computers, monitors, printers, kitchen appliances, and lighting prevents power from running to empty rooms.
- Even small per-device standby draw adds up across large offices, making two-week savings surprisingly high when looking at the collective impact.
- Common phantom-load offenders include microwaves, kettles, screens with LED lights, charging docks, and AV equipment (Green Ambassador Challenges, 2025).
Table 1 highlights a potential saving of between $5.20 and $11.48 over a two-week shutdown.
Table 1 Estimated Use and Cost of on Standby Equipment (based on Synergy Business Plan (L1)- 32.2c/kWh)
| Item/ Device | Standby Power (Watts per hour) (approx.) | Hourly cost (approx.)(cents) | Cost per Week (168 hours) (approx.) |
| Air Conditioner | 2W | 0.064 | $0.10 |
| Emergency Lighting | 3W | 0.096 | $0.16 |
| Lighting- Single LED | 0.2-0.5W | 0.006 – 0.016 | $0.01 – $0.27 |
| Smart TV | 4.4W | 0.14 | $0.23 |
| Desktop Computer | 10-20W | 0.32 – 0.64 | $0.53 – $1.07 |
| Laptop | 2W | 0.064 | $0.10 |
| Monitor | 0.5W | 0.016 | $0.027 |
| Printer | 2.5W | 0.080 | $0.13 |
| Wi-Fi | 7 – 10W | 0.22 – 0.32 | $0.36- $0.53 |
| Water Cooler/ heaters | 6W | 0.19 | $0.31 |
| Microwave | 2.4W | 0.077 | $0.12 |
| Fridge | 10-50W | 0.32 – 1.61 | $0.53 – $2.70 |
Phantom loads are one of the easiest energy problems to fix, especially when you know your business will be empty for days or weeks.
Pre-Shutdown Planning
Preparing for a holiday shutdown doesn’t need to be complicated, but a little planning goes a long way. Start by checking in with IT, building maintenance, and relevant teams to understand what equipment must stay on, and what can safely be powered down (Zembal, 2025).
Key areas to review:
- Office IT equipment: desktops, monitors, printers, chargers, and docking stations.
- Kitchen & communal appliances: microwaves, coffee machines, toasters, kettles — especially those with standby lights or digital displays.
- Lighting systems: offices, meeting rooms, bathrooms, storerooms, and hallways that don’t require illumination over the break.
- Cooling / HVAC: air-conditioning or heating left running during shutdown periods is often one of the biggest sources of wasted energy (ANU, 2025).
Pre-planning helps avoid mistakes, like accidentally switching off a fridge that should stay on, or missing lights that don’t need to be left running.
Shutdown Checklist
A simple checklist helps ensure everyone powers down properly before heading on holiday. Items to include in your checklist can include:
Workstations
- Switch off and unplug all computers, monitors, printers, chargers, and desk equipment. (unless advised otherwise by IT)
- Shut down laptops and disconnect docking stations.
Kitchen & Break Rooms
- Turn off microwaves, kettles, coffee machines, water boilers, and any benchtop appliances.
- Consolidate fridge/freezer items — switch off unused units and leave doors open to avoid mould.
General Areas
- Switch off all non-essential lighting, including offices, hallways, meeting rooms, and storerooms.
- Emergency and security lighting should remain on.
- Double-check that motion-sensor or timer-based lights won’t turn on automatically over the break.
Airconditioning Systems
- Turn off cooling/heating.
- Verify that air-conditioners aren’t set to turn on via timers — a common and easy-to-miss source of holiday energy waste (ANU, 2025).
Take a Reading
- Check the meter before and after the shutdown period to measure the amount of power saved.
Using the Shutdown for Maintenance and Smart Energy Habits
The office being empty makes this the perfect time for maintenance teams to tackle jobs that are harder to get to during busy periods, such as:
- Service air conditioning systems, clean filters, and address inefficiencies to ensure comfort and performance when staff return.
- Upgrading older lighting to efficient LEDs or replacing ageing appliances with energy-rated models (Zembal, 2025).
Taking a moment to properly power down before the holiday break helps reduce energy waste, cuts costs, and sets up your workplace for a more efficient start to the new year. Small actions add up, especially when the building is quiet. Integrate Sustainability wishes you a happy and safe holiday season, enjoy the break, and we look forward to a brighter, more energy-smart year ahead.
ISPL-Powering Down Over The Holiday Break-PDF
References
Ace Water Coolers. (2024, January 20). Hot and Cold Water Coolers Electric Consumption . Retrieved from https://www.acewatershop.com.au/blogs/news/hot-and-cold-water-cooler-electric-consumption
ANU. (2025). Five ways to reduce your energy consumption at home and in the office. Retrieved from Australian National University: https://sustainability.anu.edu.au/five-ways-to-reduce-your-energy-consumption-at-home-and-in-the-office
AWFS. (2021, March 31). Technical Data Sheet. Retrieved from AWFS: https://awfs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TECHNICAL-DATA-SHEET-EMERGENCY-LIGHTING-310321.pdf
Chadwick, J. (2025, May 16). Standby Power – What Is The Cost Of Leaving Appliances On Standby? Retrieved from Myconnect: https://www.myconnect.com.au/post/standby-consumption
DCCEEW. (2025). Lighting. Retrieved from Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: https://www.energy.gov.au/households/lighting
DEM. (2025). Lighting. Retrieved from Department of Energy and Mines: https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/energy-and-environment/using-saving-energy/lighting
Green Ambassador Challenges. (2025). Phantom Load Impact Explained. Retrieved from Green Ambassador Challenges: https://greenambassadorchallenge.com/challenge/beating-phantom-loads/activity/phantom-load-impact-explained/
Radford, E. (2025, October 30). Are vampire appliances as ghoulish as we think? Retrieved from Canstar: https://www.canstar.com.au/energy/vampire-appliances/
Zembal. (2025, July 21). Lights off: How businesses can save energy when closing over the holidays. Retrieved from Zembal: https://www.zembl.com.au/blog/lights-off-how-businesses-can-save-energy-when-closing-over-the-holidays
Zendure. (2025, February 25). How Many Watts Does a Refrigerator Use? Retrieved from Zendure: https://zendure.com/blogs/news/how-many-watts-does-a-refrigerator-use#:~:text=How%20many%20watts%20does%20a%20fridge%20use%20when%20not%20running,the%20temperature%20to%20optimal%20levels.