Do appliance power supplies always draw the same amount of current?
There is a fundamental difference between a linear and a switch-mode power supply. The switch-mode power supply is more efficient. Here’s why: Let’s say you want to step 48 Volts down to 12 Volts at 1 Amp. The linear supply will draw that full 1 Amp at 48 Volts, and dissipate the wasted power (1 Amp at 36 Volts) as heat within the linear power supply. The switch-mode power supply will chop up that 48 Volts into little bits and then transform it down with almost no losses. That means that to give a 12V output at 1 Amp, it only needs to draw 1/4 Amp from the 48 V source (plus some minor losses in the supply itself). It’s kinda like a transformwr for DC voltages. The power supply in your computer will draw ONLY the current it needs to power the system it needs to drive (plus some small internal requirements). When your printer is printing, the power supply will draw what it needs to power the systems. When it stops printing, the power supply draws almost no current. In sleep mode, the pow
