Tom’s Guide Power Challenge: The Big Reveal

[Guest]

We learn that our 30 gadgets use 255.6 kWh per month. Read on to find out how much of that we can save with Conserve strips, and see if you qualified to be a winner.

Tom’s Guide Power Challenge: The Big Reveal : Read more

 

[drutort]

this doesnt help much... I think if people would give up on some junk food that would save them a ton of money compared to this... now factor in the cost of this saving device and see how long it will take you to ROI, if its few months it might be worth it, if its years then forget it

 

[CCurtis]

I'd be interested in some elaboration on how potential issues with use were addressed: e.g., how was the NAS handled -- did it really get powered off externally (from its perspective)? Any restart issues with access point, etc.? Also, how many strips were used, for what total cost? (Sorry if I missed that in an earlier post, just having joined this site.)

 

[nenolen]

Thank you, William. This article made me realize just how much power I am probably wasting based on idle power draw alone. The monetary savings might be small, but the impact is huge.

 

[hellwig]

I have to point out William, that your Conserve Energy strip is simply a $50-$60 band aid to cover your own laziness. The items you put on the strip were your Laptop you never use, your Printer you use rarely, a Roomba you never use, and Speakers you also use rarely. Once you unplugged these things to insert the Belkin Conserve, why didn't you just leave them unplugged? If you just put them in a closet until you needed them, you might find you could be even lazier and just leave them there, never drawing any power.

Now, things like the Router, DVR, access point and NAS box are good ideas. These are things you use regularly at given times of the day, and otherwise sit idle. To me, that makes a lot of sense. Of course, in the end, how much money is the Belkin Conserve strip worth compared to something as simple as a configurable vacation timer? I have all my pet's heaters and lights on timers (so I don't have to remember to turn a light on in the morning or off when I go to bed, also better for the pets, as they're on a constant schedule). I even have a special power strip that has 3-modes. Always on, daytime, and nighttime. That way, when the daytime lamps get turned off, night time heaters come on at the same time, on the same power strip. I think the thing was only $30 or $40 dollars.

The Belkin conserve is nice in that it has a remote, but how many times will the users forget to turn off a strip at night or when they leave in the morning?

 

[Onus]

For those who have these kinds of power strips (or might consider getting them), I'd like to see added to any device review: power usage when on/active, power usage when on/idle, and power usage when off (i.e. is it really "off", or only appears that way, but is actually maintaining an IR sensor for a turn-on signal?).

 

[CTT]

I'm a proponent of hitting the big stuff first. Sure saving on "standby" items can help, but on of your graphs showed over 60% of your household energy going to Heating/Cooling and a water heater. Efficiently adjusting those would result in a much bigger savings than some standby electronics.

Nonetheless, good article, more people would benefit from paying attention to their energy use.

 

[elkad]

An extra 60 bucks worth of insulation in the attic (or around the hot water heater) would probably pay off faster than a couple timered power strips.

And having lived in Portland myself for 30 years, I don't understand that summer power bill. The climate is so mild that AC is completely unnecessary, just open a window.

 

[grege]

I have tested a few desktops in powered off state and found the best to be 1w and the worst 8w, I now also use a remote power off device. The notebook is interesting, I think the issue is having the battery between the charger and the unit. The charger is constantly trying to keep the battery charged, so the fault is the charger not the notebook. Mine is exactly the same, so the solution is to actually run it from battery most of the time and only plug it in to recharge.

Great article, I reduced my household power by about 20% by using compact flouros and similar power strips. I rarely forget to use the remote off, it is so easy to press a button just before bed, to isolate the vampires.

 

[chaz_music]

You left out one important energy loss - the air conditioner effects. If you are saving 175 KWH per year on phantom power, how much of that time would the air conditioner be running? Here in the south, it is about 8 months out of the year. The AC uses roughly 50% power to remove the waste heat so the total AC power saved would be:

175 KWH x (8 mo./12 mo per year) x 50% = 58 KWH annually

That's roughly another $6 per year.

BTW: that should also go into your calculation on the total phantom power draw also.