7. Final Thoughts
We learn that our 20 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.
I’m impressed. Simply by cutting off wasted standby drain, I realized a 32% power savings across these devices worth $8.49 per month. Multiplied out with national average electricity costs, implementing this new usage every day will save me over $100 per year!
Now, some people will complain about the $40 or $50 cost of a Belkin Conserve strip. Does it really “save up to $50" or $60 as the box promises? Maybe. If you have the right concentration of the right devices plugging into one strip, yes, I think my numbers prove that this is certainly possible. With less of a concentration, you might be looking at two to four years to recoup the strip's cost. Could you skip the strip altogether and either unplug cords or flick the circuit switch on your old power strip? Sure. But the beauty of these Conserve devices is that their remote control helps eliminate that psychological barrier of bending down, digging into cabinets, and manually cutting that connection each and every day. With the Conserve, it’s no more difficult than flicking the light switch on your wall. I love that.
In the end, though, I have to confess that I may have focused excessively on dollars and cents. Is saving $100 per year a big deal? Well, maybe, maybe not. What I really want to accomplish here is raising awareness about the many small ways in which each of us wastes electricity. Individually, this seems insignificant. Collectively, magnified by hundreds of millions of us, the waste is unimaginable.
I want to show how little effort is needed to make a difference. If I turn on the news right this moment, as I write this, I’m going to see coverage of the massive BP oil spill sweeping across the Gulf of Mexico, costing America untold billions of dollars in damage. Perhaps BP will pay for the clean-up cost, but who’s going to replace all of that destroyed wildlife and ecosystem? Who’s going to repay the thousands of people whose livelihoods were shattered by this event? If the answer is the government, then all of us as taxpayers are still footing the bill, and those numbers don’t appear on your monthly utility statement.
We must reduce our energy usage and leave the dirty technologies of oil and coal back in the 20th century where they belong. So much more than a few dollars of electricity cycling through our household devices is at stake. The issue at hand is saving electricity, but the real issue is how each of us can play a part in making a better global future. This is only a small door opening onto a much, much larger discussion.
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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
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.)
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.
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?
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?).
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.
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.
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.
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.