"Smart" Power Strips: Helping to Stop Idle Current Now!
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12.15.05
Tipster Brahm has been hard at work looking for ways to reduce the amount of power drawn by computer accessories when they aren't in use. As we noted in this post, simply unplugging peripherals from the wall helps a lot, but that isn't always possible or practical with things like Brian's VoIP router. And, as anyone using a power strip to power a cubicle or home-office setup is aware, it doesn't take much to get a tangle of wires and plugs and cables. Enter the Wattstopper Plug Load Control and Smart Strip Power Strip. Both help stop the idle current drawn from your outlets when electronics aren't in use, though they go about it in different ways.
The Wattstopper has six outlets controlled by occupancy and two outlets which are uncontrolled (read: normal), and use a motion detector of sorts to monitor and manage energy use. Devices plugged into the controlled outlets are turned on and off based on occupancy, or the fact that they're currently using energy. The "Personal Sensor" connects to the power strip, and automatically turns power to all connected devices on when the accessories and peripherals are in use. These devices will turn off after they go idle and the user-defined time delay elapses (anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes). Priced at US $90, available from their website.
The Smart Strip monitors power consumption and can sense the difference between when computers and other devices are on or off. Upon figuring this out, it shuts off the power, eliminating the idle current drawn from them. There are a couple different models and options (including fax/modem and something called "extended sensing") and they run from US $32 to $35; Smart Strip claims it will pay for itself in as little as six weeks, and it's available from their website. Has anyone out there tried either of these, or seen any other "smart" power strips? ::Smart Strip and ::Wattstopper
Hey guys, I sell this product. Good price, ships free.
http://store.goodcommonsense.net/mopost.html
Stop by anytime! Thanks -
Chris Searles
so let say you set the wattstopper to 30 seconds because you want to be super treehugger man.. or woman. then you get up to get some coffee while working on an important article or paper. BAM learn from that real quick.. but still.. I don't really like it I'm to forgetful to be able to use that.. personally (I know its very un-treehugger but what I'm hoping for is that green energy will forgive me of my sins :-D) I leave the computer on all the time (laptop so it uses what? 90 watts at the most) because I am very add and can't stick with one thing at all times. and something about this hard shut down of delicate (see expensive) electronics scares me.. oh yeah.. and I lie my vcr's clock
So what about devices that rely upon an idle draw to keep a battery or capacitor charged to run an internal clock? If you end up not using a computer for a few days, will you have to reset your computer's clock?
@Mike: For you, on a laptop, the battery will run the computer for a while when you're not around. For a normal desktop computer, you would plug the PC into the "uncontrolled" outlet and the monitor, speakers, and possibly printer into the "controlled" outlets. I imagine that this type of situation is why they included the uncontrolled outlets in the first place.
@Old_Wolf: Computers have something called a CMOS battery that maintains the clock even if the computer is unplugged. It should last somewhere between 3 and 5 years and is usually a standard "button" battery (CR2025, if I recall correctly). So, no, you won't have to reset your computer's clock if you don't use the computer for a few days. For some other devices, this may be an issue, but your concern for computers is misplaced.
I guess you could plug the computer into the normal outlet and the monitor etc into the other outlets. I wonder how much energy could be saved if things had inteligent power usage. Instead of a power supply keeping some power on till a button is pushed a rechargeable battery or a keeps that circuit going. A timed "charge period" could be built in to keep the battery topped up if the device has not been used for long enough for the battery to charge. For things that cannot be turned off due to their function a low power sleep mode would be a good idea.
I just use a regular surge protector and switch them off at night. All my computer stuff in one, my music (amps, pedals) in another, lights in a third, etc. I'm only in my awake in my apartment like 6 hours a day anyway, so this saves a lot of drain. This is the same as unplugging everything individually right?
This is cool, but better to have manufactures design standby power to 1 W (they currently use up to 25 W). The EU has been working on an agreement with manufacturers to do this; n. america should catch up!
@Andrew
not every computer uses a CMOS battery, and while it might take long enough for a capacitor to lose its charge that the issue is only a minor inconvenience (as it could take 10 days or more to discharge) it is still an issue.
Also - while I know electricy drawn in an idle state, or standby mode, is often discussed when it comes to conservation, it is really a pretty trivial place to start looking to saving electricity, but maybe many people who visit here are already so far along that this is the last thing for them to tackle. Augmenting a solar installation slightly would more than make up for the difference. Switching to more efficient lighting, better insulation, driving slower, adjusting a thermostat by a degree or two, are all much more practical than either making sure all devices are plugged into such a device, or walking around and manually unplugging or switching off power at another source. And I would bet any of my suggestions would render a much larger energy savings over time.
There's a wall outlet plug-in called "Mini Power Minder" that connects to your computer via a usb cable. The device senses when there's power from the usb cable and enables one of it's outlets, which you can connect to a power-strip that is used for your peripherals. I've been using one for a year and find it's a great way to power down my monitor and printer automatically when I shut off the computer.
Product link: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/6ee4/
I've got a couple of the Smart Strips--one for my home theater setup, another for my bedroom tv setup, and yet another for my computer system.
Because I've got some complicated hardware, I wasn't able to get mine working exactly the way I wanted to, but I called the support line for the SmartStrip, and tech support was more than willing to try to accomodate my problems (my home theater receiver wouldn't control the remaining devices because it kept drawing power in standby mode). I ultimately went with the simpler solution of controlling everything via the television.
Unfortunately, I've only had them for a few weeks so I haven't received my latest electrical bill.
Someone needs to do a little math here - there's no way one of these could pay for itself in six weeks unless it was turning off something that was drawing a serious amount of power all the time - very unrealistic. In standby mode most gadgets are drawing very little power and it would take months if not years to pay back. Still, every little helps - you probably save the power compay more than you save yourself.
This is great, but where can we find ones for the UK and French markets?
@Heather and Tim Russell
The reason that manufacturers do not have lower standby consumption is primarily cost. The savings in electricity cannot be recovered by the manufacturer but the cost to build the device with low standby power consumption goes up. A manufacturer who makes low standby power consumption has to compete ina amrket where most people don't know or care about phantom power. That increases your cost which puts you at a competative disadvantage in the marketplace.
Unless there are laws that force all maunfacturers to lower standby power consumption, nothing will change. EU directives won't help us in the US because the power supplies have to be designed seperatly for the different wall powers anyway, so US products would still consume a lot of standby power. There are some new California requirements in place, but they only apply to products with external power adapters.
@Simon Waddington
The math. In The US according to Duke power, average rates are 8.97 cents/kWh. A typcial device might consume 25 Watts in idle, or 600 Wh per day. So if you never turned the device on, it would cost you $.05 per day, $1.61 per month, or $18.15 a year.
Given that you can replace a 60 watt light buld with an 11 watt florescent and get the same light output, I think you are right that you should hit the low hanging fruit first, and save this for when you have already made other upgrades.
The problem on both sides is that there aren't any economic incentives for manufacturers or consumers to worry about phantom power, although once you add everyones phantom power up, it's a crap load of power being wasted. This is a prime example where the "free market" does not result in the best solution and the US government should really step in and force products to meet effeciency requireements. I guess we will be waiting at least 3 more years.
Could someone please post a customer review of these?
I really would like to get one, but need some reassurance that my e-life won't go berserk --
$18.15 a year x 6 outlets = $108.90
Keep in mind, it's not just about money. It's global warming, foreign dependance on oil. You name it.
The other thing to note is that if you're buying a power strip for the computer anyway, you're going to be spending at least $20-35 for a mid-grade unit already (based on a quick survey of the offerings at Amazon). So the "pays for itself" claim should really only apply to the difference in cost. The WattStopper, at ~$90, will likely take a bit longer to recoup the initial investment when compared to a conventional power strip/surge protector. However, the Smart Strip Power Strip, at ~$30, is basically what you'd pay for a conventional power strip/surge protector with the bonus of having the previously mentioned environmental and financial benefits.
A little late to the discussion, however:
Old Wolf-
Your assertion that this "passive" electric use of idle components doesn't account for much is way off. In fact, according to the Energy Star web site, a recent Times article, a consumer reports piece and a few other sources, this type of usage accounts for up to 40% of all electrical usage in the typical N American home. Think of all the devices that you have plugged in all the time, and the fact that all of them are slowly sipping power--modern big-screen TVs, and CRT computer screens alone draw 5-10 watts when turned off. Energy STar website estimates that this electrical usage creates the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions to 3 million cars on the road....so. you buying one now?
Much of the time energy efficiency creates a consumer product that takes longer to resume its normal "working" state. This causes the product to be less desirable than another that seems more "responsive".
Note how CRT monitors take several seconds to resume normal operation once they go into sleep mode. Keeping the monitor on all the time eliminates this time delay. Many consumer products work on the same idea -- keep partially/mostly/completely "on" so as to respond instantly. People see the time delay when reviewing products to purchase; they don't see the energy consumed in this standby mode (then again, most don't consider the energy consumed in normal operation) to determine the best value of the product they desire.
After all, how much power does your (pick an item here) use? Unless you own a special device like the kill-a-watt meters, chances are you don't know. I purchased one of the kill-a-watt meters and tested some of my devices on it. Four items that I remember are my TV, my laser printer, my computer speakers, and the subwoofer to my stereo. The TV uses a single watt in standby (!), the printer uses seven (has a built-in print server), my computer speakers use 12, and the subwoofer uses 16.
Just how significant is that subwoofer's 16 watts when it comes to money out of my pocket that could be saved by using the smart strip? Remembering that the power strip uses one watt, so I would save 15 watts. Assuming I don't use the speaker at all, that's 0.015 kW it consumes for 365 days * 24 hours/day = 131.4 kilowatt-hours. Assuming 8 cents per kw-hr, that amounts to $10.51 per year. So it would take me roughly three years to pay off the strip with the conservative estimate of never putting the subwoofer to use. That's hardly a financial incentive to purchase one of these devices solely for economic reasons.
The real benefit to purchasing one of these devices has to be a device that draws a large amount of power. One item I could see is a space heater -- the wattstopper would be a good item to turn a space heater off automatically after leaving the room for a good period of time.
Using my kill-a-watt meter that measures both real and reactive power, I was surprised that compact fluorescents have such a poor power factor [current not in phase with voltage, so the power company has to deliver energy that serves no real purpose]. I've noticed that many of the devices that have a standby mode consuming real power often have a signficant reactive load consumption as well. Electricity generation is limited by real power and reactive power, so these devices consume more "power" than it appears. Items with transformers are the biggest culprit -- newer switching power supplies often waste less power in normal operation and when not in use.
If you want to make things more complicated, try to determine how running these devices affects your heating/cooling costs. In the winter these devices deliver waste heat to your spaces, saving your heating unit from delivering the heat. In the summer the air conditioner must work harder to remove this additional heat.
It should be noted that anytime a home is being heated by elrctricity this "phantom" is not wasted. In other words, the savings will only apply in the summer months.
As for using the power strips not doing as much good as many other conserving acts:
A rider was galloping along a road, and almost ran over a sparrow lying on its back in the road with its feet up in the air. The rider stopped and asked, "what in the world are you doing, lying there like that?" The sparrow replied, "the sky is going to fall, so I'm getting ready to hold it up." The rider burst out laughing and said, "what! You, little sparrow? What good can you do, when the whole sky is falling?"
And the sparrow looked up and said, "one does what one can."
What would happen if each of us just did what we could?
"What would happen if each of us just did what we could?"
Amen. So, how do I know this device won't ruin my devices?
This appeals to me, but if my VCR gets it's power shut completely off, I wouldn't want to have to reprogram it every time I turn it on. Plus, does that mean that when I program my VCR to record something that it'll think it's not being used and will shut off the power?
But mainly I'm concerned with having to have it search for channels and program the time in every time I turn it on and that would be a pain.
This is an interesting device. Unfortunately it is a phantom load on its own. Let me explain.
This is essentially a power strip. But in theory it is smart enough to turn off electronics you aren't using. But can't we do that ourselves? Sort of like using a remote to change the channels on the TV.
The drawback of using this is it draws quite a bit of power all by itself. Just now I hooked a current meter up to half a dozen different power strips (with the same buiilt-in surge suppressor), and I found they all draw between 10W and 20W - with NOTHING plugged into them. Turn them off, and there's nothing. Turn them on and the red light comes on - load appears with nothing plugged in. Talk about phantom loads?!?!?
Over the last year I replaced all the power strips in my home and office with simple extension cords with plug splitters. They draw ZERO power on their own. I had 6 in my house and 11 in the office. That's easily a 200W continuous load, just in MY place. Not much, but a considerable waste given the alternative. Sort of like buying bottled water and getting the plastic bottle that costs more than the water inside.
Speaking of cost ... these things are outlandish. It gives new meaning to the term "disposable income".
-Marc in St. Louis
Humm... there are some peoples talking about the CMOS clock capacitor or battery recharge... Smart Strip DO NOT TURN OFF the computer. It only monitors it´s current usage and stand-by current. If the computer are ON, the other outlets are ON. If the compture are OFF (stand-by) the others outlets are OFF. Simple as that.
James
Marc, what happens to your devices if there is a power surge with the use of the regular extension cords? and are you certain they are not drawing any idle current, or your devices are not drawing idle current through them?
I really want to know.
Thx, Karin
BEWARE! If you plug in a High Definition TV into any form of device other than a wall outlet, you could risk damaging the projector lamp (no such lamp in a plasma tv). Most of these units have a cooling fan that remains on for a short time after the TV is turned off. This helps to cool the projector lamp down. If the power fails, or is externally shut off, the cooling fan is shut down and the lamp life will definitely be affected, possibly even destroying the lamp. Read your owner's manual. Personally, I use a UPS ( a big one designed for home theater) on the TV just for this reason. As for the power strip, does it remove power from the controlling outlet when it senses the controlling device powering down? If so, you should NOT use a TV with a projector bulb for a controlling device.
As for the petty arguments regarding saving money, I live in southern CA where I pay 15+ cents/kwh. If I plug in my PC, monitor, printer/scanner/fax/copier and speakers, I will save a significant amount of money in a fairly short time. Surely enough to pay for the device. To say nothing of the additional protection the device offers, and the environmental and political benefits.
BEWARE! If you plug in a High Definition TV into any form of device other than a wall outlet, you could risk damaging the projector lamp (no such lamp in a plasma tv). Most of these units have a cooling fan that remains on for a short time after the TV is turned off. This helps to cool the projector lamp down. If the power fails, or is externally shut off, the cooling fan is shut down and the lamp life will definitely be affected, possibly even destroying the lamp. Read your owner's manual. Personally, I use a UPS ( a big one designed for home theater) on the TV just for this reason. As for the power strip, does it remove power from the controlling outlet when it senses the controlling device powering down? If so, you should NOT use a TV with a projector bulb for a controlling device.
As for the petty arguments regarding saving money, I live in southern CA where I pay 15+ cents/kwh. If I plug in my PC, monitor, printer/scanner/fax/copier and speakers, I will save a significant amount of money in a fairly short time. Surely enough to pay for the device. To say nothing of the additional protection the device offers, and the environmental and political benefits.
I would like to get a smart power strip and after reading the posts I didn't find a clear answer about the clock on a vcr or dvd player. We use the clock on these items in our livingroom and I want to know if you use a green power strip will it disrupt the clock time when not in use? Aka When not watching the vcr and tv can you still see the time on the clock? On my budget I would have to buy the cheaper $30 version.
Thanks
Daria
Trying to go "greener" in Maine.
I bought one. After using it, it only makes sense if you have items that draw a lot of power, and can't easily be turned off -- or you *know* you won't bother to turn them off. There are a couple of things to think about:
1. As mentioned above, the powerstrip takes power. According to my kill-a-watt meter, about 3 watts with nothing plugged in.
2. It isn't great for use with "wall warts" - the outlets are too close.
I bought it to turn off my monitor, printer, and speakers. The printer and speakers used wall warts - about 3 W each when idle. The monitor doesn't use a wall wart, but is easy to turn off, and I always did.
It works as promised after a simple adjustment, and my equipment doesn't seem to be affected.
The bottom line is it saves me about 3W after taking into account it's own power draw compared to what I could easily turn off manually. There are cheaper ways to save 3 W - plus it probably doesn't offset the impact to manufacture, ship, and dispose of the powerstrip.
«this type of usage accounts for up to 40% of all electrical usage in the typical N American home.»
Nonsense. The amount of idle current is puny compared to normal usage. Just don't leave unnecessary lights on and you'll save far more than with "smart strips" or unplugging stuff.
It's all just media hype, and another way for Oprah to feather her own nest. I wonder what the electric bill is in her $18.5 million house.
Absolutely right. Nonsense. I mean, yeah, it saves energy, but it saves PUNY amounts. On the topic of going green, there are a million things you can do other than buying one of these things. I would love to see a comparison of the raw energy use of making this per unit and all its materials from start to finish and getting it to the consumer vs. the amount of energy saved by using it on some speakers, tv, or printer. I bet they offset at least.
On the cost factor, as others mentioned, it would take a couple of years to offset the purchase cost at least. The other dude was right, spend your time and money on big energy savings techniques, such as purchasing a programmable heat/cooling panel to run on a schedule when you're out of the house, turning off uneccesary lights and not using them when you don't have too. Take much shorter showers to save from using the water heater, etc. etc. etc. So many bigger impact measures for cost and energy. This thing is a joke.
ABSOLUTELY not. It makes so much sense, depending on your level of global awareness/concern. If you only care about how many dollars are in your personal wallet than it is a mute nano-point. If however you have some vision and foresight you would see that 3 watts a day is not insignificant.
3 watts of totally wasted unused electricity.
111,616,402 occupied homes in the usa, per 2000 census.
3 watts X 24hrs = .072kwh
.072 x 365 days a year = 26.28 kwh a year per strip
26.28 x 100,000,000 homes w/elec. =
2,628,000,000 kwh usa yearly
2,628,000,000 x 9.86 cents national average 2006 =
$259,120,800
of totally wasted electricity the power strips might save annually when in the turned off mode.
All of this money comes out of the utility users wallet & goes straight to the utility co., which in turn goes in to the
atmosphere or into the nuclear spent rods storage facility's which lie on earthquake fault lines & the great lakes which comprise 21% of the planets fresh water.
remember the blackouts in California a couple of years ago. the future is inevitably coming & if we don't change it will bite us in the butt. If the govt. tries to legislate conserving energy how loud will the usa scream.
The big picture is every little bit is significant.
asking usa to turn stuff off & conserve, good luck.
if my #'s or figures are inaccurate thats because I'm just a spectator.
To do my part in conserving I always share my shower with a necked hot chick.
Thanks for this info, I used some of it in this blog entry.
http://tdaait.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/super-simple-energy-saving-tips/
Best,
Cara
I have to love these discussions, very entertaining if a bit fruitless. Of COURSE any given device may or may not work for every situation. I myself have routed my cables for my 4 PC workstations and mounted the power strips at the rear of the desks. Using one eco strip per station is a no brainer for me and has allowed me to reduce my use of electricity. Not a huge amount but more then enough to justify the 4 strips (many devices I use do NOT have power switches or are mounted out of the way making it hard to power them down). For MY particular situation they work great. Maybe not for you. http://www.beamingsun.com/ecostrip/
Its not Nonsense.
Vampire energy is estimated to cost 3 billion to U.S. consumers a year. Check out the link below to learn more. The information was compiled for a 2005 Department of Engery report.
http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/008/trans008vampireenergy.html
If you are curious to the cost, power off everyting in your house and watch your meter. You can see how quickly it spins with everything off.