Does "Location Services" always drain the battery when enabled?

Hi,
I've read lots of things that say if you want to save battery power, disabled "Location Services".
I find it annoying that on the odd occasion that I want to use Location Services, say, to find an ATM near where I am, I have to go into settings and enable it, and then go back into the app I tried to use, and go and enter my search again, etc.
Now, I understand that if my phone is actually trying to find my location, that is should use some power.
But my question is... If I have Location Services switched on, and I am not actually using any app that is trying to find my location, does my phone actually use any more power than if Location Services is disabled?

Tamara wrote:
It does not use extra power to have Location Services enabled if you're not using the app.
I leave Location Services on all the time and I have decent battery life.
I agree that having location services on doesn't use battery unless an app is using it. Now none of us can say for sure about that since we don't know the software/hardware and how they talk/work and as the other poster said, powers the GPS chip. Just because the service is on, for all we know the OS only powers on the chip then "when needed"
From looking at the "Optimize Your Settings" from http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html They say:
Minimize use of location services: Applications that actively use location services such as Maps may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > General > Location Services or use location services only when needed.
While for WiFi/Bluetooth, etc they say turn off, not just minimize use of "applications" that use it. That is because WiFi and Bluetooth have to actively beacon/probe while the GPS only has to do something when requested.
Just my two cents though.
Message was edited by: DaVBMan

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