Down light "transformers" are normally disconnected from the mains supply when in the" Off" condition.
I have never seen any which aren't controlled by a normal light switch on the wall,& in some cases, a dimmer.
For fixed wiring you are quite correct the mains is interupted by a wall switch. Plug in appliances that is another story! Much of the junk our supposedly energy saving governments allows to be imported uses secondary switch and leaves a Wunhunglo transformer primary permanently across the mains. Mis information abounds, ask any politician and they'll bank on about carbon, and energy saving lamps and all sorts of plain wrong crap.
For a clever country it has me **sed why people voted for the current lot of numbies!
Unc,some years back,in the interests of efficiency,one of my employers decided to de-staff a country TV station,& do call outs from Perth.
This was fair enough,but we were concerned about safety,as this Site was 160 km away,in the middle of a farmers paddock.
It was a high power station,so it seemed sensible to send 2 people on call out!
We had a meeting with the Union Secretary & the Boss,where the Union bloke declared "Definitely 2 people on call--that is not negotiable!"
The Boss agreed,so everybody went away happy!
Next week,the "On call" rosters came out.
You guessed it!---One person on call!
Apparently ,the two had gone down to the boozer & renegotiated the deal!
Unimpressed,I went to the next Union meeting,where numerous irate members were almost ready to lynch the bloke,over other similar matters.
Here's the kicker!
At the next Union election,he was re-elected!
I gave up trying to understand voters about that time!
Or why the public preferred face of the other side is the minister most responsible for not saving the planet by quadrupling the cost of light globes. Idiots all!
The story so far-------
In the article Sarge referred to,they made the original point re plug in lamps from IKEA,then extended that to down lights alleging that they were left in "standby", using large amounts of power.
Rerouter made a comment re his neighbours alleged power draw of 18 watts for downlights in "standby".
I,rather intemperately,used the "male bovine excreta word",in refuting these suggestions.
I have always assumed any draw from real transformers which are not loaded to be minimal,but I have never done any tests.
"Pretend" transformers such as those which are commonly used today,may be different.
Re: The Pollies---- The thing is,they are all lay persons,with no real knowledge of Technology,
Looking at their education,their Degrees are in Law,Economics,Political Science,Social Science,etc,which fits them well for quite a few of their responsibilities,but whenever they come up against Science & Technology,they know about as much as the young person at Mac Donalds who serves burgers.
So they cast around to take advice from experts----& there are plenty of them,all with their own cart to push!
Back in the day,such pollies were balanced a bit by practical people,such as farmers in the old Country Party,& trades people in the Labor Party.
I bet we'll never again have an ex Engine Driver as Prime Minister!
Who you vote for is a lot like what football team you barrack for!
Being a Labor voter is a bit like being a Fitzroy supporter----They haven't quite changed their name & moved to Brisbane,but they've changed bloody near everything else!
On another occasion,I suggested the answer to energy problems would to be to attach alternators to Ben Chifley's & Bob Menzies' remains to generate power as they turn over in their graves at what their successors have done to their Political Parties!