SmartPower SmartTip of the Week: Break out the power strips

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  Posted by Big Sat Jul 5, 2008 7:57am PDT

  Babaganoosh ... you dont unplug everything... clocks, dvr's and the likes that need to stay plugged in...DO STAY PLUGGED IN... plug them into the wall or the socket on the stip that STAYS ON all the time.. they do make them like that...where 2 or 3 of the outlets on the strip are on all the time... but the dvd player, the wii, the LCD tv etc... they should be off..the cell phone charger (why not just charge it in the car everytime you get in instead of using the house electricity anyways) they get plugged into the stip and you just turn it on and off each time...simple...saves at least 10-20 bucks a month....for sure...

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  Posted by Chad Sat Jul 5, 2008 7:57am PDT

  I've been doing this for the last 5 months. My energy bill used to be around $120-$150 per month. By using this strategy, my cost has gone down $30-$35 a month! This really does work!

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  Posted by MadMax Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:01am PDT

  I've been in the consumer electronics business for many years and I considered the "Energy Star" certification the stupidest idea ever. How can you save energy when an appliance is on all the time - even if it is a "low power consumption" mode. If it is unplugged or turned off with a power strip, it consumes NO energy. Low power vs NO consumption - which is better ? I am betting on NO consumption for reducing waste. I do agree with Babaganoosh about reprogramming vcr's, cable boxes, etc as being very inconvenient. I only unplug my pc and peripherals, tv and audio components as they don't require resetting any clocks. Another plus is when they are unplugged, the risk of power surge damage is eliminated.

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  Posted by Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:11am PDT

  Again I make my point, JPG_TN, wrote about TiVo Service not working when powered off. But what I caught on to is the COST of TiVo. Now Imagine you own TiVo.(Thats what $250 for the box and another $13.99 a month for service?) Or if you bought an HD TiVo box which in that case cost a wopping $499-$899 Depending on the model. What's the real benefit to hooking up a System that costs so much to a $10-$30 Power strip? My GOD! Don't be cheap! Today people care about buying the biggest HDTV, with the best Surround Sound, and the loudest Sub woofer. Why would you spend $250-$899 and then place it on a cheap power surge?

  One last note: Joules... the amount of energy the power strip can take before its fried... a typical $10 one takes about 500-800. Thats not alot. Hope you don't expect it to save you from a lightning storm. Because the only way to do that is turn the power strip off at every storm... or you could buy a decient one. (Good ones like Monster come with lifetime guarentees and... up to $250,000 towards your equipment if they're fried while hooked up to one of their line conditioner..)

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  Posted by Kiki Jones Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:12am PDT

  Don't hide the power strip. http://mytechpdx.com/green-technology-practices

  You'll never actually flip the switch unless it's easy.

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  Posted by Matt Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:16am PDT

  I have to agree with the article in that power strips are a good idea. Its all the little things around the house that start saving money and helping our enviromental waste. If you have any sense of electronics and use discretion then there is no problem. Like he said, use a wall outlet for tivo or cable boxes. Better yet use a power strip for your electronics that save vital settings and use one for electronics that dont and turn that off whenever its not in use. Granted some people dont care about the money saved but that is only an insentive to stop wasting electricity and adding to our ever increasing carbon emissions. Even though its hard to seem as one person can make an impact by doing something so small, the effect of it can be seen when it is repeated by many. Oops, Ive become preachy.... Good Article!

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  Posted by Ellick 1 s Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:20am PDT

  Im going to try to say this in the nicest possible way I can . Do they actually pay you to wirght this BLOG?!?! Because frankly this is totally not the best thing to do .

  I am in the industry or home/business/car electronics. I work for a local shop in Janesville, WI, not your run of the mill mass merchant.

  I have been there for about 8 years now.

  Ok so with that all said, someone was smart enough to post something about the home video/audio products having resets on them. He is a smart person and should be wrighting this blog . He is exactly correct those products would reset everyday, and the time that it would take everyday to reporgram all of them you could have gotten a part time job to make well over $200 a year to make up the difference.

  In reality the best thing to do is leave them off as you do normally except for your home stereo. Now the reason im saying this is because they have whats called capacitors in them and once they get a full charge they will stay charged and then a slight trickle charge will keep them that way so that when you go to use it you not having to pull alot of juice all at once to get them that way. Other than that there isnt much else you can do. DVD players VCRS and the like use very very little power when turned off about as much as a alarm clock.

  In conclusion Id like to say, and please dotn take offense to this but. I dont think Mr Brian really thouht this blog threw, nor has he read any specs to know how most commen house hold electronics actually work, other wise he would have said pretty much what I had posted.

  PS I would not recomend to do what this gentleman has posted a blog about!!!!

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  Posted by Sergio Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:20am PDT

  Well, aside from the power bill, to turn off certain devices has an advantage. Almost four weeks ago, my cousin almost lost her house in a fire because a malfunction of the air conditioner while it was off and he was out of the house. Devices like that could do with a power strip.

  By the way, while you are out on vacation(and don't have anybody sitting the house) unplug most of your electronic devices and turn off the water from the main pipe, you don't want to get back from your vacations just to find that a pipe blowed up and your house is flooded.

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  Posted by Scott Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:23am PDT

  I too agree with Babaganoosh. It's true that some devices have built-in batteries for power outages so you don't have to reset the clocks or the settings but not all of them do. So, turning off the power strip might give you more work to do by resetting everthing. I have a dvr with the capabality to record tv to a hard drive or disc and when you program it for recording I would think that by turning off the power strip I would lose those programmed recording times. It would be like turning on the unit for the first time. Perhaps the suggestion would be to plug in the units that you know wont have a problem without power.

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  Posted by n45 Sat Jul 5, 2008 8:31am PDT

  Idiot Advice!! DO NOT USE A POWER STRIP THAT DOES NOT HAVE A CIRCUIT BREAKER!!!

  You want to have surge protection! That protects you investmet. I myself advise multiple high end surge protectors that can be set as needed so the TiVo is always on and your computers can up date and do maintenance, when you are asleep. I NEVER turn off modems, Some newer model may reset ip addresses but others will have to go thru manual steps which can be very annoying. A nother way is to use your computer as home resource manager to electronically disengage appliances and re-start by timer or command.

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