Comments on: The One Hour Project: Kill The Electricity Phantom http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: UL power strip http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-921242 UL power strip Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:06:41 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-921242 Cool. Talking about makes sense. Is recognized. Hope that it will often share such a good text. I will always be concerned about, because you can learn some knowledge, thank you for sharing, and i loveBooster Cable very much !

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]]> By: Janilyn http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-758330 Janilyn Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:29:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-758330 I have been experimenting with phantom power for about four months now. Immediately I saw a reduction in my power bill. That gave me incentive to really pay attention to whats plugged in and when. Now EVERYTHING that truly does not require power other than when it’s in use, is not plugged in. This month I paid the lowest bill for electricity I’ve had in TEN YEARS. It’s about the cheapest GREEN thing I’ve done. I’m working to tell family and friends and challenging them to do the same. Just how much power not used collectively would be interesting to know. I do have some groups, like the entertainment center, the computer group (printer, computer, fax & copier on power strips, but I even have the strip unplugged when not in use. From experience I’ve found it really is worth the small inconvenience for the savings realized.

]]> By: Jake http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-502629 Jake Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:41:39 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-502629 Are you sure your math is correct?

If you were to find fifteen such devices and the cost is $3/month – if you spend $40 for a power strip – then this would take 13 months to recoupe your cost of the power switch… but, chances are you will only have about half that many devices plugged into one strip – so the time to recoup is about 26 months…

and, chances are, this assumes you have your devices unplugged ALL THE TIME to save the full $3/month – so the time will to breakeven will be even longer…

My question is, if you use a regular cheap power strip on multiple appliances and use the stip’s on/off switch is there still a power drain? and if so is it less because it is a ‘single appliance’ if the strip on/off is set to off?

Thanks

]]> By: christine http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-499470 christine Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:32:44 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-499470 What if we have a cable box? When I switch everything off (at the power surge protector strip, or unplugging that strip), we lose all the cable settings.

Is there a way to cut power to the cable box and TV – without having to call the cable company to reset it all again?

Also – is it OK to leave toasters, microwaves, stoves and such plugged in? Is it not worth unplugging lamps?

Thanks : )

]]> By: John http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-483067 John Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:42:41 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-483067 Great article on what we can do in a hour. I am so enthusiatic about topic, I put up a page on using a smart strip after installing a few. It’s much better to have it do the work for you (unless you can just unplug).

]]> By: Lisa http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-440346 Lisa Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:57:43 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-440346 An advantage to unplugging what you could – cut down the risk of starting electrical fires. Especially when you have umpteen electronics hooked up to a power strip.

]]> By: ecf19 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-375115 ecf19 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:43:04 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-375115 this is the biggest waste of time and effort for such a small amount of monetary savings

]]> By: steve http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-314714 steve Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:08:18 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-314714 It is my understanding thatthe ANSI studies you are either a) nonexistent or are way out of date.

If you have a hard reference to the study though, i’m open minded and would love to read it.

many people of the older generation (my dad, in his 70s) were trained not to turn electronic devices off, primarily because it was the switches that would fail and energy was wicked wicked cheap and they didn’t have a clue about global warming either.

Even if thermal expansion were a factor, contemporary devices run much cooler than devices from the 50s and 60s.

turning your stuff off and on is not going to make it die.

]]> By: Wink Jr. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-277776 Wink Jr. Fri, 16 May 2008 22:41:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-277776 ANSI studies have shown that powering electronics on/off even once a day will increase the likelihood of them failing, due to the expansion of the circuitboards & electronics when on (and hot) and contraction when off (and cooled back to room temp) – by anywhere from 20-50%. Computers in particular that are turned on/off daily only live about half as long as leaving them on all the time. Hard drives are even worse, depending on brand.

So you have to take into account that if you computer dies, not only the cost to replace it, but the time lost while it’s being replaced, and all the time spent reinstalling software, etc. plus possible data loss.

Focusing too much on only actual costs like bills in the mail is short-sighted – replacing a computer, reinstalling software, buying software if you can’t reinstall it or need to upgrade because your version won’t run on a new operating system, cost of data loss, etc. etc. – it’s hard to put a number on, but frankly I’m happy that (knock on wood) the PII-450 Dell I bought for $40 used in 1999 is still working fine.

]]> By: Don Forrester http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-270004 Don Forrester Tue, 06 May 2008 18:13:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-270004 Oy, the comments script picked up my comma. The correct url is at http://www.smartstrip.net

Cheers

Don Forrester
Webmaster
Bitsltd.net

]]> By: Don Forrester http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-270002 Don Forrester Tue, 06 May 2008 18:11:05 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-270002 @Simpledollar: Thanks for the great review!

@Donna: you can purchase a smartstrip at http://www.smartstrip.net, or alternatively you can follow the links on the hub site at http://www.bitsltd.net. There are also numerous vendors around, some of whom offer better prices than we do; a Google search can pull those up for you.

Cheers

Don Forrester
Webmaster
Bitsltd.net

]]> By: Donna http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-81534 Donna Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:30:08 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-81534 Where did you buy the smart strip? Thanks.

]]> By: Rich http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74900 Rich Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:22:04 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74900 “Good advise, I saved £120($240) by switching off at the wall everything I didn’t need on overnight and during the day, I connect them up so this was only two switches to keep things simple.”

Is that per Month or per Year?
What is your KWH cost?

I’m assuming per year, and that’s still seems very high considering you said everything was already off to start with.

]]> By: Steve http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74743 Steve Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:11:03 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74743 Good advise, I saved £120($240) by switching off at the wall everything I didn’t need on overnight and during the day, I connect them up so this was only two switches to keep things simple.

This wasn’t a change from standby to off, just from fully off on the device to totally unplugged. People forget that many devices consume power even in their own cold state, eg a PC uses 5W as it has the keep the MB powered , as the front switch connects to that. For that reason I don’t like those clever power strips, as you still loose that.

]]> By: justin http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74509 justin Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:45:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74509 How many TVs lose stored settings when the power is cut? I know mine does. I actually have a UPS for it.
I also leave my TiVo and VCR plugged in. My alarm clock, etc. Many things have state that they keep when power is kept on.

My server, I leave plugged in. My router, my cable modem. My UPSs, all plugged in.

Convenience is definitely worth the small amount of money that could be saved.

]]> By: Louise http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74385 Louise Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:38:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74385 I used to plug my TV, stereo, VCR/DVD, and game console into a power strip, but the frequent powering on/off of the TV blew it out. Now I’m hesitant to use this tactic with any of my electronics.

]]> By: maxconfus http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74274 maxconfus Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:13:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74274 although every little bit helps I believe the typical utility has 50% or more in the cost to cool/heat your house not the little gadgets that draw power; better to invest in attic and wall insulation.

]]> By: Jeremy Pavleck http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74264 Jeremy Pavleck Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:53:05 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74264 That smartstrip is bloody brilliant, thanks for the tip. Even though I’m sure there’s a little phantom drain from the PC being plugged in acting as the ‘switch’ it makes it impossible to forget to turn off the rest of your gear.

That smart strip would work well for laptop docking stations too. I have a laptop, but on it’s dock is an external monitor, powered USB hub, charger for wireless mouse and speakers. Undock the laptop, no phantom power, dock it again and boom, everything has power. What a wonderful idea!

]]> By: Marta http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74234 Marta Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:26:22 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-74234 I was just telling my coworkers about this this morning. While I don’t have a power strip, I have my entertainment system (TV, DVD, stereo) plugged in to an extension cord. I simply plug it in when I want to use it and unplug when I’m finished. I try desperately to remember to unplug my cell phone and laptop chargers as much as possible, too. I don’t want to pay for power I’m not using!!
I wish we had the outlet wall switches like they have in Europe – makes a lot of economical and resource sense!

]]> By: Mariette http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-73957 Mariette Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:42:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/19/the-one-hour-project-kill-the-electricity-phantom/#comment-73957 I’ve been doing this for years and it’s really helpful, not only in terms of my own electricity bill but also in terms of not wasting power and global resources. It may not be a whole lot, but it’s that much less electricity that the power companies need to generate on my behalf, especially as it’s not being used for anything anyway – much like if I were to let a dripping faucet keep leaking and not try to fix it.

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