Switch off at the socket?

On 14 Sep, 23:30, Mike Swift wrote:
In article
.com, NT writes

There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

The phantom power issue is much over stated. In most cases it isn't
worth getting up to switch things off.

Have you ever driven through most towns late at night, the shops are lit
up like Blackpool illuminations, and they want us to switch off at the
power socket.


I wonder what the residents of Blackpool use as a comparative
reference when they want to comment on levels of illumination?

--
Halmyre

alexander.keys1 wrote:
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

From years of having old TV that buzz and smell we always switch off at
the plug when we go to bed, same for the PC, various chargers etc as
well. It's a habit from years ago and the old fire safety films.
Shutting the doors to the lounge , hall etc as well.

In article ,
NT wrote:
On Sep 14, 10:43*pm, "alexander.keys1"
wrote:
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.


The phantom power issue is much over stated. In most cases it isn't
worth getting up to switch things off.

Indeed. See e.g.:

http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/sustainable/charger/

I did the power meter thing a year or 2 ago - went round the house
meansuring everything. The only real surprise was my HP Colour Laser
printer. In it's "low-power" idle mode it's sucking 30W. That now gets
turned off. Nothing else does because it's not worth the effort.

Another eye opener is my freesat (or whatever it's called) box - that
sucks 4 watts when on, and ... 4 watts on standby too, so no point even
pushing the button on the remote. The newer ones may be better, but I bet
they suck more when on (to spin up a hard drive) and the same when off.

Gordon

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:53:43 -0700 (PDT), NT wrote:

On Sep 14, 10:43*pm, "alexander.keys1"
wrote:
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

The phantom power issue is much over stated. In most cases it isn't
worth getting up to switch things off.

NT

In somke cases. My TV is 0.9W; the digibox is 9W (with a PF of 0.45!) so
well worth switching off.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

In message
,
Mike Hall writes
On Sep 14, 11:27*pm, SeaWoe wrote:
On Sep 14, 2:43*pm, "alexander.keys1"
wrote:

I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

Use a rubber-tipped stick and you don't need to bend over. (For the
elderly and light-haeded)

I tend to use my foot to turn off switches. Energy efficient, saves
bending over and it keeps my big toe in shape!

Tried that. Eventually made a hole in my slippers, and dislocated my big
toe. A definite H&S matter!
--
Ian

"alexander.keys1" wrote in message
...
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

David Mackays book is a good read on this subject:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/w...page_155.shtml

You can download the whole thing from he http://www.withouthotair.com/

Vortex4 wrote:
"alexander.keys1" wrote in message
...
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

David Mackays book is a good read on this subject:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/w...page_155.shtml

So he says he can save all of 45 watts if he turns everything off instead of
leaving it on standby when he's not using it. The equivalent of a very dim
lightbulb therefore. Great!

However, he ignores the fact that he's also losing 45 watts of heat. To
keep his house at exactly the same temperature, an extra 45 watts of heat
need to be pumped out by whatever heating system he has, for as much of the
year as he needs any heating at all. Admittedly, that may be a bit cheaper
if it's gas-fired, but it's still the same amount of energy, so it's
unlikely to have a huge impact on climate change.

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 at 14:43:54, alexander.keys1
wrote in uk.media.tv.misc :

There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

Congratulations - you must be the only person in the country who enjoys
reprogramming their VCR/DVD recorder every day...
--
Paul 'Charts Fan' Hyett

Yes, this is sort of true, but if you want to use recording systems and
timers, not having a mains supply is a drawback!

Also, recent figures on accidents in the home suggest people bending over
equipment to turn off or remove plugs is a significant source of falls and
back problems.

grin.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"alexander.keys1" wrote in message
...
There have been a lot of comments recently about the waste of energy
due to appliances being left on standby, and various gizmo's that are
on offer to turn them off automatically, or otherwise purporting to
save energy. What everybody seems to be forgetting is that an energy-
saving device comes with most UK socket outlets, it's called a
'switch', and when put into the 'off' position, power cosumption is
zero! None of my appliances, including computers, digital TV
receivers, etc. have come to harm through this practice, I always
switch off at the wall, back in the day when there were fewer
appliances this was standard procedure to avoid fire risk.

On 15 Sep, 08:54, Gordon Henderson wrote:

I did the power meter thing a year or 2 ago - went round the house
meansuring everything. The only real surprise was my HP Colour Laser
printer. In it's "low-power" idle mode it's sucking 30W. That now gets
turned off. Nothing else does because it's not worth the effort.

Be careful with that. Larger copiers and printers have drums that are
damaged by moisture and so contain an anti-condensation heater. It may
also not be sucking 30W continuously, just intermittently.