quiescent

Adjective that may be applied to current, power, or voltage for energy used when a device is powered, but not actually "on" or doing anything, in "stand-by" mode. Your cellphone charger that you leave plugged in even when the phone is not connected, an LED luminaire with all its emitters are at zero, an audio amplifier with no speakers connected, and so on. Anything that gets hot or even warm IS using power. Cable TV box? Laptop PSU? VCR? (But who wants to reset the clock every time you use the VCR?)

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/what-is-quiescent-current.5932/