A simple way to judge whether an appliance is wasting power or not
on standby, is to feel how hot it's getting when left overnight -
easier with a plug in power pack then a TV I must admit. The small
solid state 'switch mode' plug in charger that came with my
mobile 'phone is stone cold when left plugged in and on, yet the
power supply to my external disk drive sits there roasting hot, even
with the switch on the drive set to 'off', so I only plug it in when
I need the external 'archive' drive. My old BT voyager 105 broadband
modem was powered by the USB port, the new faster one they brought
out is powered by a separate transformer, and both it and the
transformer used to sit there 24/7 wasting energy. As I didn't
notice much of an improvement in surfing speed, I went back to the
old one.

Clive :)




--- In Beyond_cheap_fuel@..., "the_unagog"
<unagog@...> wrote:
>
> I really lik e the timer idea. There are things I can't use it on
> though, like the VCR (Yes I still have one), because it forgets
the
> pre-programmed channels evey time it's unplugged. A real pain
after
> a power outage. The TV would be great on a timer, though.
>
>
> --- In Beyond_cheap_fuel@..., "laurence200857"
> <laurence.wilkins@> wrote:
> >
> > Oh, Pete, I fear you may have opened the floodgates! OK, here's
> > "what's wrong with that" as you ask. Mankind is BONE IDLE and 9
> times
> > out of 10 will not get up off his @rse to cross the living room
to
> > switch off an appliance when he could just press the red button
on
> the
> > remote instead. And manufacturers wont really start to lower
standby
> > power until it hurts sales not to. But you knew all that :)
> >
> > I have been doing some research. I have an old analogue 14 inch
TV.
> > Switched on, it burns 60W. That's OK; I'm watching it. Switched
off,
> > it burns 7W. It gets worse. Attached to it is a Digibox.
Switched on
> > it burns 14W. Switched off (i.e. little green light on the front
> turms
> > red) it burns - wait for it - 14W. ARE THEY HAVING A LAUGH??
> >
> > My nice new plasma screen burns 250W when switched on, 29W (!!)
on
> > standby AND 24 WATTS WHEN SWITCHED OFF BY THE "MAINS" BUTTON ON
THE
> > TV! I wonder how many people even REALISE that? The only way to
kill
> > the consumption fully is to RIP THE PLUG OUT. And how many can be
> > bothered to do that? (See para 1).
> >
> > I already have an easy half-answer to this. On such devices where
> > there might be at least reasonably regular useage patterns (I am
not
> > generally watching TV after midnight or before 5PM weekdays,
> different
> > at the weekends) I have simply installed a 7 day TIMESWITCH.
Simple,
> > and it works.
> >
> > Here's another even better idea - I reckon I could easily build a
> > prototype, but proper type approval for mainstream production
rules
> > out small guys like me - a variation on the timeswitch or "Smart
> > Socket(r)" (which are really good, by the way). Imagine a plug-in
> > socket which ONLY switches on its output when it sees an IR
pulse
> (ANY
> > IR pulse - it doesn't need to decode it) and then switches off
after
> > (say) two hours if it has seen no further pulses. Few of us can
> watch
> > the same channel for much longer than that without reaching for
the
> > remote to adjust the volume of something.That would sort out Mr
> LARDY
> > BLOKE in para 1 (which, let's face it, is all of us), and
probably
> > save the planet, to. A bit.
> >
> > So, you energy concious types out there, tell me if YOU would be
> > interested in such a device, and what you think you would be
> prepared
> > to pay - I might look into a handful of prototypes if the demand
is
> > there
> >
> > Remember- every wasted standby-watt is costing you around a
pound a
> > year in round numbers
> >
> > While you are figuring out what such a device might be worth to
you
> or
> > anyone else, here's something else to make you think. I have
read
> more
> > than once that it is FIVE TO SEVEN TIMES CHEAPER to not waste
energy
> > in the first place, than to try and generate it locally from
> renewable
> > resources (wind/solar/hydro/tidal or whatever). Make ya think,
> dunnit?
> >
> > Laurence Wilkins
> >
>