A good way to cut down on energy use and electric bills is to turn off standby power. Standby power, also called phantom power, refers to the power consumed by electronics while they are switched off or in standby mode. These include DVD players, microwaves, devices with remote controls or power adapters that have no power-off switch, such as those Christmas tree lights we all just took down.
The wasted standby power of household electronic devices is typically very small, but the sum of all such devices in the home can become significant – reaching up to 22% of all appliance consumption and around 10% of total residential consumption. You can turn off your surge protectors or unplug each appliance while they are not in use, however, that can be time consuming, especially when you are short on time and running out the door.
The Belkin Conserve Energy Saving Surge Protector with Remote Switch makes it simple to eliminate wasteful standby power, helping you reduce energy consumption and save on energy bills. Equipped with ten surge-protected outlets, eight of which are “switchable” and two that are “always on,” just plug in up to eight devices into the “switchable” outlets, such as your TV or DVD player, that can be turned on or off by the remote switch, and two devices into the “always on” outlets, such as your DVR or router, that will need to stay on at all times.
The Conserve has plenty of room around all the outlets so that you can plug in all the energy eating power supplies into in it without covering up the adjacent plug. The remote switch is also very handy and needs no programing to work.
January 5th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Andrew.. thanks a lot for pointing the main power grabbers here. I never knew that electronic devices will eat power while at standby mode though I use them very minimal. From your statistical point of view I need to change myself a lot. My girlfriend will never switch off anything until she moves out of my place. Thanks a lot.
January 5th, 2010 at 10:29 am
the remote definetly makes it simpler but it is silly as this takes up power as well, and although it may be better having one thing using power then having 8, often people will forget to switch it off, which means you now have 9 things using power.
I found simplest way was to use a power outlet with 8-10 sockets, then just switch that off by hand when i remember, or even better, for those who have a 9-5 job, use a timer which switches everything off between that time, and then off again when you know you'll be asleep, e.g. 2sm-6am etc.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Another thing to remember is to only plug in your phone chargers if it is actually charging a phone.
As it draws power even if no phone is attached.
January 5th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Mike said:
yeah that amazed me when i first head about it, you'd think they'd have to make it use nothing when no phone was plugged in. makes me wonder if it's the same with the modern usb cables used on the latest devices
January 5th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Very Cool post. I like the idea of using a timer. It's great if you are on a set schedule, especially during the work week.
January 5th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Yes all things that use a transformer consume energy even when not in use. Most electronic devices consume energy at all times from the dishwasher to the electric razor.
January 5th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Great feature! I'm amazed at how expensive my electricity bill is, especially in these winter months when I spend many weeks in Florida away from my Michigan home. Hopefully a product like this can save me some money.
January 5th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I love the idea of this thing. We've got something similar, except instead of a switch there's one plug that controls the others. When the device plugged into the control plug (our TV) is turned off, it cuts the power to all the other devices (game console, DVD player, etc.). There's also an always-on plug, for the TIVO and modem. It makes it that much easier for us.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
The Belkin Conserve Energy Saving Surge Protector sound like the solution I'm looking for, didn't know that stand by appliances take so much energy. Would use the product and update if it reduced my electric bill.
January 5th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Interesting...this article is definitely an eye-opener, something I never thought about! I'll have to try out the Belkin...
January 5th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Nice device. How do I order it?
January 5th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Michael, you can order it through their website.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:31 am
After I read this I went out looking for one. Where can I get this at Office Depot didn't have it. Do I need to go to Wal-Mart or Target? Get back to me on this..
January 6th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Many people don't realize the power that unused electronics take up. We simply unplug things, however I'm not sure how safe this is. This device would solve that...
January 7th, 2010 at 1:00 am
I love this I want to get one I'm all about saving energy and money.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:34 am
I find these saving tips really useful, thanks for sharing this!
January 21st, 2010 at 7:21 am
That seems like a great product, and it looks good, too.
Any ideas whether it can be bought in Israel?
Ron
January 21st, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Cathy, I'm not sure if any in-person stores sell it.
Jeff, don't know about this particular product, but I do know that there are a number of brands that make surge protectors like this one, with always on and switch off sections, so you may just want to check out local electronics stores.
January 24th, 2010 at 5:55 am
I appreciate these energy-saving tips - thanks for sharing! I thought that it can be also possible to work out some water-saving tips, can't it be?
January 29th, 2010 at 4:41 am
A lot of people, including me, is guilty of wasting standby power not so much because we simply don't care. Who wouldn't want savings on electric bills? I do. Tools like this definitely make life a bit easier.