LED bar off indicator

The simple indicator presented in this article may be combined, in principle, with any circuit that contains an LED bar display driven by a Type LM3914 IC. It ensures that an LED will light when all LEDs driven by the LM3914 are out. This prevents one drawing the erroneous conclusion that, since all the LEDs are out, the circuit is switched off. The circuit then continues to draw current, which, especially if it is battery powered, costs unnecessary money, apart from other considerations.