Have a question about power usage.

[Proprioceptive]

Okay, so I've talked to a couple friends who've decided to take the "unplug everything when you're not using it" approach to save money on the energy bills. I think this could work for us, but what I was thinking was that I could buy power strips for areas where there are multiple electronics and just switch the power strip off instead of unplugging everything. I don't know much about electricity, so am I just kidding myself here? Or would this work?

 

[Ronstang]

Yes

 

[crab]

That would work.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Probably.

I'm not about to unplug things like my tv and home theater receiver and loose all its settings though.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Probably.

I'm not about to unplug things like my tv and home theater receiver and loose all its settings though.

HA... I'd agree, but I don't have many settings I care about... YET.

Thanks guys!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Think there's actually special power strips you can buy that do this automaticly. I forget exactly how they work but when you turn your equipment off it somehow detects it's not in use and shuts itself off. Not sure how it turns back on though, or maybe you have to do it manually.

 

[Skeeedunt]

Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

 

[Proprioceptive]

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

Well, as far as I know the benefits are pretty drastic in the bill.... like 50% drop in the first couple months. I know someone who eventually stopped using her tv etc. so much because she didn't feel like plugging it back in. I

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

Depends on how much you value your time

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Think there's actually special power strips you can buy that do this automaticly. I forget exactly how they work but when you turn your equipment off it somehow detects it's not in use and shuts itself off. Not sure how it turns back on though, or maybe you have to do it manually.

Smart strip. Three plugs. One for CPU, two for other components (monitor speakers). Plug one, the CPU plug has a sensor. When PC is off, it kills power for all three. There's a dial to adjust the sensitivity, since some standby states use very little power and might trip the smartstrip when it shouldn't.

 

[Koharski]

I do something like this. I'm currently using my laptop as the main PC and i've got it wired into the monitor/stereo most of the time. I've got the laptop, dsl modem, my alarm clock and cellphone charger on one powerbar and the light, monitor, amp and xbox on the other. When i'm not at my desk I just hit the one power bar and when i'm leaving for a bit I switch off the other one.

 

[Paperdoc]

Before going too crazy on this, check out the facts, and I do NOT mean the stories you find all over the authoritative Internet! I was judging in a local Science Fair recently and one project was to find the real facts on this. The student had used a power meter to really MEASURE the power consumption for items that were turned off, so he could figure out how much power they consumed in that state. Things like using a programmable thermostat for your house furnace and reducing gas use during the night do generate considerable savings (on gas energy use, not so much on electricity). But unplugging your TV? Or how about the microwave oven? He told me he was surprised by the microwave result, because he had read "on the Internet" that the clock display which always runs wastes a lot of power. His measurement calculated out to less than $2.00 per year! The TV might have been twice that much.

By the way, the TV is a good example of facts changing over time. At one time the "instant on" feature of TV's actually did consume enough power in the "off" state to be of interest. That is because that feature on a CRT display system with tube amplifiers actually kept the heater filament of the picture tube and a few other tubes heated up all the time so they could start working "instantly" when the TV was turned on. The current involved was in the one amp range. But today with solid state circuits the only filament left is the CRT tube itself (or even none if your TV is flat-screen LCD) and the current consumed by the tiny circuit that watches for you to push the "On" button is minuscule!

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Proprioceptive

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

Well, as far as I know the benefits are pretty drastic in the bill.... like 50% drop in the first couple months. I know someone who eventually stopped using her tv etc. so much because she didn't feel like plugging it back in. I

You won't experience any sort of drop like that. A lot of the numbers are inflated. For example, there are articles about how you could save "$145 per year" by unplugging the PS3. Well, that's comparing having the PS3 turned on to having it unplugged. If you shut it down but leave it plugged in, then it uses something like $2.40 per year. My 50" plasma uses 23W when in standby. Unplugging it would save $1 per month.

In other words please don't expect astronomical savings. Depending on your equipment the savings could be less than $1 per month. If you go out and spend $25 on strip plugs, then it'll probably take a year or two to recoup that money. This doesn't take into account your time spent flipping off and on the switches and possibly resetting settings, clocks, etc. Personally it's not worth it. I find many ways to reduce my utility bill (CFL bulbs, washing clothes on cold, etc.), but not having my TV calibrated and having to do more than press one button on my Harmony remote to get all my home-theater equipment to come up like I want it isn't one of them.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Proprioceptive

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

Well, as far as I know the benefits are pretty drastic in the bill.... like 50% drop in the first couple months. I know someone who eventually stopped using her tv etc. so much because she didn't feel like plugging it back in. I

You won't experience any sort of drop like that. A lot of the numbers are inflated. For example, there are articles about how you could save "$145 per year" by unplugging the PS3. Well, that's comparing having the PS3 turned on to having it unplugged. If you shut it down but leave it plugged in, then it uses something like $2.40 per year. My 50" plasma uses 23W when in standby. Unplugging it would save $1 per month.

23 watts for standby seems really high. All you need is a little electronic circuit to watch for remote signals. then it would turn on everything else. Standby shouldn't take more than 1 watt. Whoever designed your tv is retarded.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: Leros
Whoever designed your tv is retarded.

This.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Proprioceptive

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Wonder how long it would take to break even on the cost of the power strips...

Well, as far as I know the benefits are pretty drastic in the bill.... like 50% drop in the first couple months. I know someone who eventually stopped using her tv etc. so much because she didn't feel like plugging it back in. I

You won't experience any sort of drop like that. A lot of the numbers are inflated. For example, there are articles about how you could save "$145 per year" by unplugging the PS3. Well, that's comparing having the PS3 turned on to having it unplugged. If you shut it down but leave it plugged in, then it uses something like $2.40 per year. My 50" plasma uses 23W when in standby. Unplugging it would save $1 per month.

23 watts for standby seems really high. All you need is a little electronic circuit to watch for remote signals. then it would turn on everything else. Standby shouldn't take more than 1 watt. Whoever designed your tv is retarded.

I guess Pioneer is retarded then (I've got a Pioneer 5080). I agree that 23W seems a bit high, but that's what CNET reported. It labels it as standby, so I wonder if that's the same as when I turn it off. I'd have to use my Kill-A-Watt to be sure.

Edit: I'll check with my Kill-A-Watt tonight and report back to you guys.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: nerp
Smart strip. Three plugs. One for CPU, two for other components (monitor speakers)...

Yep. They can be found for just $10. Turn off one item, and the rest have the power cut automatically. I've wanted to get one, but never took the time yet to buy it. I only use my TV (CRT, instant on) now when I have the digital converter box running. I only use the TV remote control to turn on the TV. Thus, I should save a bit of money (at the convenience of one fewer remote controls) by using a smart strip controlled by the digital TV converter box (assuming you don't need a heavy power user as the controller). One day, I'll go to the store and buy it.