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- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+61Things that need to be on:
=Tivo (how else does it know to record something?)
=Computers (on 24x7, because they're constantly used and when they're not, someone may need to contact me through them, etc)
Things that do NOT need to be on:
=Microwave: Why does my microwave need a clock?
=Oven: Why does my oven need a clock?
=DVD player: Why does my DVD player need a clock?
=Coffee maker: Why does my coffee maker need a clock?
=Home Theater Audio System: Why does IT need a clock and why does it stay on when I'm not using it? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Sad reality is that you wouldn't have bought any of those products if they didn't have a clock. Its just one of those subconscious things that made you choose one product off the store shelves over another. Its called marketing. The clock is just an example. Thousands of electronics have additional power consuming "features." Fact is no one would by them if they didn't, because we have come to expect certain things out of an appliance. One company adds one feature, the next has to outdo them. So when one Microwave comes with a clock, well expect one more that has time zone features, and another that has that plus a color display. What can we do about it? Well that all depends on how much you give a crap about pollution the next time YOU purchase a product.
- nroose, on 10/12/2007, -4/+221. Computers should not stay on all the time. Nor should printers, monitors, etc. Just stay away from using them in such a manner that you need them all the time. Put stuff you need all the time on shared servers.
2. Generally you may notice the difference in start up time, but it is not going to be significant in your life. Spend those few extra seconds every so often trying to relax.
3. You may not think it adds up. But based on the numbers, annual cost of this stuff will be about what your monthly electricity bill is.
Oh, and turn off your car when you get out or waiting for someone else to get in the car. Even if it will only be a few minutes a few minutes.
Some other things:
Use only compact florescent bulbs, instead of incandescent. You can get ones that have good color. They will last 5x as long and use 1/5 the electricity. Replace your incandescents as they burn out, and you will be saving money by the time you finish investing in CFs.
Drive like a granny. You can reduce your fuel consumption and your emmissions by 5-10% by accellerating gradually and sticking to the speed limit.
Drive less often.
The Kyoto protocol was only trying to reduce emmissions by 5%. Even though the US didn't join, we can do it for ourselves. - spliznork, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16300 million people in the United States. $3 billion/year in "waste energy". Means $10/person/year in "waste".
$10 per person per year in "waste energy" does NOT sound like a lot to me. There needs to be a value proposition -- that is, I need to spend significantly less than $10/year to benefit from reducing my "waste energy".
If I maintain on average 10 electronic items in my household, and each item lasts, say, 10 years, then if each item is $10 more to get the "zero power standby, no waste energy" hypothetical feature, I'm only breaking even.
Bottom line, how much are you going to spend in time, effort, and cost each year to retrofit/upgrade all of your appliances to a lower power mode? A lot more than $10/person/year.
A little perspective would be nice, here. - DrakeGTA, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16I keep all my stuff on power stips, and when I'm not for example watching TV, I turn of the strip with my TV, Xbox, PS2, DVD ect. Works well for me.
- TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15""""Why leave appliances on? They only cost money.""""
Quicker start up time. Plus, really it costs very little. We are talking cents a month for each item. Just when you multiply that by 300 million people, it is pretty big looking.
Eric Wilson - Eaglefire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Think about this. If your home is heated by electric heat (baseboard / wall heaters), you are not wasting any electricity leaving your computers / appliances on. Thanks to thermodynamics, practically all of the energy consumed in these devices is converted directly to heat. Since the heat is inside your home, your electric heaters will fire less often because there's more heat around already. The energy the devices use is subtracted from the amount of energy your electric heaters use, thus costing you nothing extra.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Just got finished going an "idle" monitor power analysis for our organization. The actual costs for our monitors (all LCD panels, 600 of them) was less than ~$1000/year @$0.08/kwh.
More interestingly, after doing some research, I discovered that the monitors consume a minimum of 3 watts no matter what (even if the LED "power" light on the front paneled is "turned off" using the soft switch labeled "power". Quite literally, you would need to unplug the monitors from the wall to keep them from consuming power.
The Energy Star specifications list three power modes and the two lower power modes must be - Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Yes, but it can be done more efficiently.
Some companies are starting to put hard switches on the front panel of some devices here in the U.S. They've been doing this for years in the U.K. and I think it's a great idea. Like, when you are going to be using your TV, now this might sound crazy, you get up and walk over to the TV and press the switch. Your remote will now work, and you can turn it on and off during the day. And when it's nighttime, or when you know you're not going to be using it for a while, just walk up to the device, and press the switch again. - kodek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9you dumbass, a power strip doesnt go on standby.
- Hatte, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10You Sir, are a fool.
from: http://www.energy.gov/energysources/index.htm
"Coal is also the workhorse of the nation’s electric power industry, supplying more than half the electricity consumed by Americans."
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.html
Coal is one of the worst polluting fuels, largely because of of high CO2, SO2, NO2 and heavy metal output.
Turn off those monitors, lights, TVs and buy more energy efficient appliances. - gingerchris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8i didnt realise that devices in the US dont have switches on the front. I was about to slate jhkilroy for being lazy
- cphuntington97, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Global average temperature varies by about +/- 5 degrees C over tens of thousands of years. The Earth is just coming out of the -5 degrees C zone and "moving on up." It's going to get warmer. Every year. Fast. For a while.
It could just be variations in the sun's output. Who can know? - Skrolnik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"Coffee maker: Why does my coffee maker need a clock?"
Out of all the ones on the list, this one can be justified, if you happen to use the timed brewing feature. Load it up with coffee grounds and water the night before, and set it to have that pot ready for you when you wake up in the morning. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Here in australia, we are encouraged to use solar power, however, our wonderful government has decreed that you can't actually use any of the power you generate!
How bloody stupid is that!
You have to sell it back to the grid, and then can use that money to reduce your power bill.
With government attitudes like that its no wonder we waste a lot of power and strongly resist any attempts to be more efficient! - m85476585, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It shouldn't, but after you consider all the inefficiencies of the power supplies can add up. Most devices use switchmode power supplies which need a small load to operate at all (they don't work with "no load"). Manufacturer might accomplish this with a "dummy" load, which is basically a resistor that wastes to make sure the minimum is used at all times.
- danhugo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This sounds like a perfect first-tier use of residential solar. You don't get yourself completely off the grid, but you could take up the standby power use.
- Galaxion, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Hang on, this is 2006, not WW2.
We do not have a finite amount of energy. I want my right to be enshrined in the Constitution - every man has the right to leave his DVD player, Microwave, Electric Scrabble board and anything else I want on without having some busybodies interfering telling me i'm destroying the panet. There's always Mars if we do anyway. - Erkan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I have been thinking about this for a long time. My Xbox is consuming 10 watt when in standby, that might not seem much but add every appliance you have in your home and it adds.
- matrixclown, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7This might just be the most inaccurate comment I have ever seen on any website EVER.
less than 3% of the worlds energy comes from hydro.
more than 80% of the US's energy comes from coal.
Now nuclear is a good thing. But what about the waste? just a few hundred tons of nuclear waste that won't go away for a few thousand years. Gee I sure hope that that doesn't leak.
add in solar power too 4% that is good stuff.
Now then. over your life time assuming your under 40 if you only waste $10 a year and now with new technologies people are expected to live to 150 do the math. Not to mention how much coal goes into making 1 watt. I dare you to without using renewable resources show me how wasting power doesn't pollute the enviroment - pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@Seumas I leave my machines on 24x7 as well, and while it does cost more in electricity, I'm using them *all* the time, so I do require the availability of them. That said you have a good point about turning off your microwave and oven clocks, and there's other things too, such as water heaters. Why get a water heater instead of a instant-heat device? They work really well and save energy.
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4When the switch is off, it's physically disconnected from the hotwire, therefore surge protection is no longer needed. Major surges could still come through the neutral wire I suppose, so it's best just to unplug the thing during bad thunder storms.
- ddrirc, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12Doesn't sound like much considering hundreds of billions were spent on Iraq?
- anenokoji, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7In europe, the tv's all have a standby power, and full power off. My sony tv does not have a full power off.
- christopherk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@BobbyOnions - I agree manufacturers should be doing better on this stuff, and marketing it even. But I'd make a wild guess that it's more environmentally friendly to use an existing appliance until it dies, and then buy one that drains less, due to manufacturing costs.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4rnoose...you are even underselling the benefits of CFBs. I replaced all 12 bulbs in my small apartment with CFBs. Four were 17 watts (75 Watt equivalent) and eight were 13 watts (60 Watt equivalent) I paid about $13 for the eight pack and $8-9 for the four pack at Sam's Club. The next billing cycle that came I was amazed. My bill was almost $20 cheaper. I fgiured it must have been an anomaly. It kind of was since my electric company bills me every month, but only checks the meter every 2 months. (They estimate every other month.) However, in the last few months after, it has settled in at about $6-8 lower than before. And since I don't pay for heat there really is no inherent differences for me from month to month except in the summer with air conditioning.
So, I paid $23 for my bulbs, instead of about $5 had I bought twelve incandescent bulbs. And I am saving about $7 a month. Or...they paid for themsleves in 2 1.2 months.
I gave two 8 packs and one 4 pack to my girlfriend who recently moved into a new house. She said it is saving her about $15 a month. Plus, she lives in the boondocks (the streets are named after the first family to live there, so her street name is her last name since she just moved into the house her dad grew up in andshe is one of three houses on the entire street) Anyway, she is prone of power outages at the first flake of snow to fall or bad windstorm. She said it is really nice to be able to have 4-5 lights on instead of 1-2 when she has to use the generator, and still be able to power the necessities like a small heater and refrigerator.
I don't see why anyone still uses regular incandescent bulbs. I know there are some cosmetic reasons to not use CFBs, but that really doesn't appley to incandescent since they are just as ugly. - Double-Z, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I've started turning everything off now. I never knew it used so much energy. We've all got to do our bit.
- williamhelmick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That damned fridge, always consuming so much power in standby mode! I think I'll start unplugging it until I need to use it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The only thing required for standby is the IR receiver circuit so it can boot from the remote. Can't imagine that draws too much power.
- TigerClaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You know, It always bugs me why most of our equipment has those things, DVD Players and such, Even when you supposedly turned them off, You always get that red light on the power button for Standby I don't know why they did that. Fortunately for the PS2, There is a power button on it's back to completely turn it off.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Oops, I leave a lot of my appliances on all day (my printer for one), and leave a lot of other appliances in standby. Guess I'll need to do something about that...
- dusack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4its ok to leave appliances on standby, if they waste less than 1 watts in standby. some need up to more than 20 watts, eg, some TVs. companies don't care much about reducing the standby power of their appliances ... there are little incentives, except a few laws (eg, in California where it became illegal to sell TVs with more than 3 watts). what about us consumers asking for devices with optimized standby power?
- Raldikuk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Really depends on the form of energy. Primary energy for me is Nuclear power, which produces very little pollution. The only problem is where to store the waste, which isn't a pollution problem, just a possible pollution problem.
Why use TVs at all? Why not save the energy and read a book? Why use electric lights, we should still use candle light. Why should I waste my time turning off and turning on devices all the time to save $10 a year? The article quotes 5% of energy usage. So 95% of energy usage is other stuff, which more than likely is used on things that aren't necessary. Clothes and Dish washersdryers for example. THe whole premise of electricity is convience and laziness. - ChileanGoD, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6We need fusion power now.
- snokleby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I actually registered on digg just to digg that comment by Eaglefire. This is only true when it is colder outside than inside thought (aka winter).
- scottmoss, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The solution is always an easy one! To offset all of the wasted energy used with instant on appliances all you really need to do is change out one of your standard light bulbs for compact florescent or better yet an LED bulb. If everyone in the US changed out one bulb (one that is used often) to LED it would save over 3 billion dollars annually. This way you can still have your clock on your VCR telling you the incorrect time. You also don’t have the hassle of unplugging and re-plugging in all your minor appliances.
- chipace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Your emac even sucks when it is not plugged-in ;)
- RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hate to sound like the MPAA, but P2P is wasting electrcity too. People don't even use standby if a P2P app is running. The PC stays full on all day and night.
- andywaite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Interesting point, but I would imagine that electronic devices would be much less efficient at generating heat than a proper heater. However I'm struggling to figure out where the extra energy would be lost to, since it has to go somewhere.
- deepstructure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2certainly a little action multiplied by 300 million people can great a seemly large effect, but as someone said before - it's all relative. the biggest problem i have with admonishments like this are that it's a little percentage cause/large percentage result problem. as we hear so many times, 20% of the cars on the road cause 80% of the pollution from cars (old models without catalytic converters, poorly functioning engines,etc.), 80% of the pollution comes not from cars on the road but the hvac units of the buildings in large metropolis'. just today on my bloglines was this wired article:
http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/0,70445-0.html?tw=rss.index
where it's noted that:
"Farming accounts for 70 percent of the water consumed and most of its wasteful use, said representatives of 130 nations at the World Water Forum discussing water management."
i grew up with parents who lived in england during wwII. conservation of all kinds was drummed into them and consequently us. sure, we can all turn off the taps in between dishes, etc., but now it's missing the big picture. it's echoing the problem. it's spending energy inefficiently.
i'd rather someone write a check for $20 once a year to a smart environmental group lobby than potter about their house turning off their stand-by units thinking they're helping save the world. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I wonder how much my eMac sucks away when it's in sleep mode-- when that beastly crt powers-on the lights dim.
- kampf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It would make sense to put the devices you do not need on standby, like a TV, DVD player, XBox/PS2/GC and other appliances on easy-to-reach surge strips, or even a lightswitch setup. I agree that devices like DVRs, computers and anything with a useful clock/alarm should be left on standby power.
How does this "wasted" power compare with the percentage of what's actually been used? Has anyone had an experience like anonymoustroll, but measured before and after with CRT vs LCD? I think we should be more concerned about how much power these devices are using when they're on, as opposed to off, because that's where most of the power is going. - Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, you could be right. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. People can be REALLY lazy.
- jhkilroy, on 10/12/2007, -9/+11Without Standby power your REMOTE CONTROL would not be able to TURN ON the device.
- TheSolomon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2nroose- Actually, if you're only waiting a few moments in your car for someone, keeping it *on* saves more energy than turning it off. That's because automobiles will expend more energy during the start cycle than they do over the same span of time running normally. If it's for zero to thirty seconds, sitting in the car with the engine running probably isn't that bad.
The same logic can be used for all sorts of electric appliances, such as monitors and air conditioners. If you are turning these on and off frequently throughout he day, you will probably be better served to just leave them running. (There is actually a fair amount of research on this subject with regard to powering the compressors in air conditioners.)
In addition, frequently turning devices on and off (say, multiple times per hour) will cause additional wear and sooner breakage. And if you need to replace your devices because the power circuitry or switch has fried, that will result in additional energy usage, since it takes a lot of energy to make a new one (from the materials, labor, and factory standpoint).
Even lightbulbs suffer the most wear at the moment they are turned on. Avoiding turning lightbulbs on and off all the time could result in you replacing them much less often.
You can certainly save money and energy by turning things off and using them less, but you need to be smart about how you do it. It's best to do research into the matter and find a balance between immediate and long-term energy savings, along with weighing that savings against the longer-term product (replacement) costs. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Ah sarcasm (I hope).
- acruxksa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think the whole point of the article is to show just how easy it is for the "little" things to add up to quite a large difference. Lowering standby power consumption is an energy saving practice that will have little to no impact on us as consumers, but will ultimately have a large impact on energy usage world wide. It falls into the same category as CF bulbs, proper tire inflation and programmable thermostats. All of these offer relatively small reductions in energy usage, but they also have virtually no impact on the average consumers life, so should be common practice but unfortunately are not. I have been using CF bulbs for about 4 years now and swear by them simply because it really makes no difference in my daily life, but does consume less energy. The technology is out there to do this at little or no cost to the consumer, so I see no reason why we don't set standards to point the manufacturers in the right direction. This is no different than epa standards for vehicles.
I would also like to point out that it's not just the clocks and such, nearly every wall wart (power supply) that's plugged in consumes power even if it has nothing attached to it. Try it sometime with your cellphone charger, plug it in but don't plug your phone into it, after an hour or two it will more than likely be a little warm, this is power being lost even though it is doing absolutely nothing when not charging a cellphone. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why do they have to be mutually exclusive? Why can't we encourage public transportation AS WELL as no standby, or reduced standby?
I don't use much standby things myslef. My microwave doesn't have a clock. I have my TV connected to my cable box, so when I turn the cable off, my TV is off..as in unplugged. My DVD recorder does use it, since it DOES need a clock. But that and my VCR are probably the only things going into standby. I turn my computer off when I will be not using it for more than an hour or so.
This, combined with the point about Compact Fluorescent Bulbs just shows how easily we can save power with absolutely NO sacrifices to be made. - monsieurgrand02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Doesn't it take more power to shutdown and startup something than to just leave it on. At least, I think thats the case with digital cameras and maybe mp3 players...?
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Or you could fix it.
If going to low-power solar is good, then going to low-power solar and fixing the standby losses would be even better. There's no need for this crap. -
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