[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Unplug for Dollars: Stop 'Vampire Power' Waste here

[Aljhonn]

thank; i glad to join

[Yves]

Yes-but!
Most of the time you have to cut back on consumption to save but this is not always the case.
If you have to cool your office,you do not want energy vampires and tungsten light bulbs.
All of them produce heat, very good heat.
They generate heat more efficiently (and with less cost) than your main heating system.
One watt used always produce one what of heat.
Use your energy vampires and use your
old light bulbs to heat you
when it is cold outside.
cBien

[LindaA]

WOW! Who knew? An eye-opening article!

[Balayage]

This article is ridiculous. This is no different than saying do not buy any modern innovations that use energy. Instant on TV's were invented many years ago because people did not want to wait 5 minutes for the TV to warm up and finally display a picture. So were all the other items in your article.

Your article should be titled "Don't Buy Modern Convenient Appliances: Stop the Power Drain". Almost anything we buy today that uses energy uses part of that energy to make life more convenient for us. It is these features that sell the product. If you are going to spend the extra dollars to buy these features it would then be ridiculous then to disable these features.Buy featureless versions first thus saving at both ends.

[tkohlman]

...and what about ALL THOSE CLOCKS!!! (already hate the bi-annual time change)...direct tv receiver will probably take 5 minutes to re-load...

Maybe manufacturers can figure out a way to "trickle" enough juice to keep the above going but kill power needs to everthing else.

[s1sboo]

I have to add my comment on here. Two Month ago my Electric Bill was $78. My PC ran 24/7. Well time came to turn the AC off that brought my Bill down to $48. I heard about an Article just like the above and told myself i will give this a try, so i started to put all my Appliances on a Power Strip. Now everything goes off when i am not using it, go to work or go to sleep. Last Month i used the AC for 2 Days only but my Bill came down from $48 to $37. When i seen that Bill i said WOW!!!!I have never seen my Bill that low since i lived here. So yes it does work, and i will keep to coninue this Method. You will get used to quickly to push that switch on that strip.

[DarkHawke]

I'm right there with Balayage: I suppose this topic is intellectually interesting, and no one's saying that they're for heedless wastes of energy, 'specially if you're the one that's footing the bill! But this article plays right into the hands of the environmental extremists who essentially want YOU to scale back your life to the turn of the PREVIOUS century in order to "save the planet." Newsflash: the planet don't need saving. It'll persist till the sun swallows it in its death throes. WE need saving from elitists who have nothing better to do than tell everyone else how to live their lives and never practice what they preach. I'm lookin' at you, Al Gore!

[jlmills]

There are many things that use external power supplies that don't benefit from consuming any power when off. These should have their power switch or, whatever causes them to be on to completely switch the power supply off. This is easily accomplished with two move conductors in the cable between the external power supply and the device combined with some trivial electronics.

should have a way to have there

[jmjohnson]

So when will the 'power strip' manufacturers get smart and start putting the switch at the end opposite the power supply cord?

I realize this will cost a few pennies more for the extra 12-20 inches of 14 gauge wire. However, with nearly every power strip I see on the shelf, the switch is placed next to the cord. So when I plug in the power strip at the wall and plug in the devices it controls, I have to reach through the cord nest to the back of the strip to reach the switch. Or I have to double the supply cord next to the power strip body to put the switch within easy reach. Both conditions suck.

[JBENZ]

For some reason it's all but impossible to find power strips with individual switches in computer or electronics stores. I have an American DJ strip that I bought at a musician's supply store that has eight individually controlled plugs. I have all my wall warts (cell phone changer, MP3 player), printer, scanner, etc., plugged into that. I only switch them on when I actually use them and the rest of the time they aren't just sitting there sucking power.

Word of caution: some devices that are designed to stay on all the time don't react well to being turned on and off from the power switch. I learned that the hard way after losing a couple of TVs that died within a few months of being put on a power strip.

[drrexx]

Modern appliances are still better than old ones because, while being feature-rich, they draw less power.
Still, we all may want to save a few extra bucks, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Message was edited by: AuroraDizon - removed directly personal argumentative sentence

[AuroraDizon]

Please try to avoid personal attacks on this forum. They are a violation of the Community Standards. You can mock a product but please not the person. Thank you. If you feel like you have been personally attacked please contact myself or any one of the other moderators.

[CameraBucks123]

I vote for Balayage & DarkHawke! I’m all for being conservative and avoid wastefulness, but I refuse to deny myself the conveniences & features that I’ve worked so hard to get. Just look at the other posts about trying to find a decent power strip that is actually convenient to turn off & on. All my cords for my computer and printer & accessories are hidden behind a large desk and large file cabinet and my DVD player is housed in an entertainment center, no…I’m not going to climb back there and turn the stuff off & on. The microwave is over the stove with the power outlet in the cupboard above that so that’s staying on. I’m not selling my SUV and I’m not using those curly-q light bulbs either. And neither is Al Gore!

[Kinman]

I put the system, the LCD, and the speaker on a power extension card. I shut them all off when I leave home for a while and at night. Used to leave them on, but now the power's cost is up, so.
But for the wireless phone, cable modem, router, Gigabit switch and the small print server, I turn them on 24/7. Shut them off would be too much trouble, not worth it. These small things, just use up 25 watt together, not a lot.

[OldRetiredITGuy]

Wow. Let's all take a deep breath - this is an informative article with some solid quantitative data on power usage. I don't see anywhere that the author demands that you personally make any changes whatsoever in your own power consumption. It's a personal choice (so far), one that I can now make in a more informed manner. Some of the usage numbers were real eye openers. My sub woofer will be "off" from now on unless we're actually using the home theater.

[drrexx]

Interestingly, some members are allowed to make argumentative statements about individuals and groups of people at large that are not even mentioned in the article, but I get slapped for calling them on it... Interesting moderating philosophy.

Let me try again, this time more gently, so that no one's feelings get hurt. If instead of listening to AM talk radio one actually reads the article, there is nothing -NOTHING- in there that says that you should scale back your lifestyle, not drive your SUV, not buy new stuff. All the article is doing is to give some tips to save a few bucks and, if you care, to do something for the environment. Don't care about the environment? No problem. You can still save a few bucks. The author even states that you cannot and should not even unplug all of your appliances/electronics. My point is that, in the long run, it may actually be better to replace old appliances/electronics ---i.e., buy new stuff--- because they are more energy efficient. It is troubling, though, that some people would actually use even rational, cost-benefit analyses like the one presented in the article to score cheap political points and perpetuate ideological stereotypes. Arguments about entropy, frankly, are logically contradictory. We all know the earth is going to be swalled up at some point in the future, and that's exactly the reason for not wanting to speed the process up.

[Stefano85]

Dear Yves/cBien,
One watt used from the electrical grid ALWAYS produces one watt of heat.
That is, for the purpose of heat generation, fan heaters are just as efficient as light bulbs or anything else: they all have 100% efficiency in generating heat.

The problem is that whenever you use a single watt from the electrical grid, that single watt has been produced by converting more watts of energy which were available in another form: the difference has been wasted heating the environment.

So we should use our heating systems and good insulation to keep us warm :), and save electrical energy.

Best Regards
Stefano

[sergeik]

An even bigger problem is the PCs that are left always on. These can cost you some $300 in wasted electricity a year.

[JimAdcock]

As an electrical engineer, BOY do I get tired of this cherub! Wall Warts: do they or do they NOT waste energy? Simply answer: SOME DO Many DO NOT. First, every power supply including all wall warts waste energy while they are doing productive work, such as charging your cell phone battery. The question is, do they waste energy AFTER they are done charging your cell phone? Simple answer: Any device that wastes energy turns that energy into HEAT. After your cell phone is done charging leave the wall wart plugged in and touch it with your fingers in the morning. Does it feel warm? No? THEN IT IS NOT WASTING ENERGY! I NEVER found a wall wart that wasted energy -- until I checked one we use to turn 120v to 240v to run a German DVR player and that one runs HOT even when nothing is plugged into it! Worrying about a Wall Wart that doesn't get warm when it isn't being used is like Thurber's Grandma who would unscrew the lightbulbs at night lest the electricity leak out!