Anyone use intelligent sockets?

It's amazing this thing, they've managed to find a way to make products that are switched off actually draw power :D

Nah, I think it's a good thing. A lot of stuff won't switch all the way off unless you unplug it or use the switch at the wall. Most people are too lazy to do that so this, really, is the next best thing.

You'll notice the biggest savings on things like plasma televisions which can draw a ridiculous amount on standby. My friend measured his and it drew a wallet slaughtering 400W on standby :eek:

So yes, if you've got something like that it's definitely worth installing if you don't want to crawl around under the TV to unplug it.

Other things like printers, digibox, monitors, computer, video, DVD player etc are actually not too bad these days. Many of mine register just 0.5W on standby, so the manufacturers have been pretty quick to fix the problem products sapping power on standby.

Go by the '1W for a whole year costs about £1' rule if you're wondering if it's going to save you any money.
 
400W on standby?

They don't even reach that high on full power!

A plasma, like most other items on standby will draw about 5w max, usually only 1 or 2.
 
utajoker said:
what do you buy to measure how much power is being used?
Click to expand...

A power monitor about £10, I'll get one of those first and see what things are drawing.

I don't think people should or need to sacrafice usability and convience to save power, which is why I like this idea. Especially on computer, which can switch monitor, speakers, printer, camera off.
 
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All my electronics used 25w when in standby, speakers them self used 12w switched off. Most of that was probably the freeview recorder.

Out of interest what power do they switch off the mains at.
 
£30!!!! I dont like these at all, i have used one and hated it.

For example if you have one of these for say your computer and the router is on the same plug, its good bye internet connection etc.

I cant stand them to be honest, all for the sake of saving a few pound.
 
That's your fault for plugging the router into a slave socket. That one posted comes with 2 sockets which are always on.
 
I have something similar in the living room. The power strip has a IR sensor on a 3.5mm lead, placed near TV. I taught it the on/off IR signal from my TV remote. This way when I switch the TV on, the strip powers up (with everything else on it) and when a switch the TV off, everything else dies with it.

Works perfectly.
 
teaboy5 said:
£30!!!! I dont like these at all, i have used one and hated it.

For example if you have one of these for say your computer and the router is on the same plug, its good bye internet connection etc.

I cant stand them to be honest, all for the sake of saving a few pound.
Click to expand...

User error to be honest. They work great.
 
Lol.
How can you blame the product for your error?? Seriously??

I have 2 sockets at my PC. One has a 4 way multiplug with cable modem, vonage box, and 2 phones in it (one business one personal). These are always on.
In the other is the power saving plug. PC is on Master, and in the slaves I have 2 monitors, headphone box, amp box, dymo labeller and digital scales. Its excellent as I do not have to worry about turning off monitors and amps, I can just switch the pc off and 5 secs later, its all off. They are great at what they do. Was going to try one on the TV, but since its just TV, PS3 and SkyHD, there was no point.
 
EDIT2:

I failed to investigate the thing, as I correct in saying the main port is NEVER turned off ?
I think I'll actually look for one here now, my monitors switching off automatically when my pc does is awesome ( what is the threshold for the slave ports to turn off, since a pc always uses a little bit of power even when off ?).
 
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I have one of these. Router and a lamp is set on the 'always on' plugs with the TV, PS3 etc on the switchable ones.

Works very well :)

Don't know about the power savings tho.
 
Use a usb one of these on my desktop and a IR one for my TV at uni (we pay the bills)
I got them free from BG, the one for my desktop allows me to be lazy and leave my amp, dac, monitors and kb on 24/7 so no switching or adjusting at startup but only drawing power when the pc powers up.

IR one for the tv also works well, just make sure your stuff remembers their settings when they loose power or plug them into the always on sockets.

Together they save 30-50w of idle power which is quite impressive. It also means it's not LED city when I go to bed with bright blue/red/yellow/green and pulsing lights all over the room which I had with standard multiplugs.
 
Guess I must be the only one that finds LEDs strangely comforting at night then :)
Used glowsticks are also awesome.
 
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