Leaving electrical appliances on standby is costly to you and the environment and is potentially dangerous. Leaving a TV, DVD player, hi-fi or games console on standby can cause CO2 emissions that harm the environment, still be using up to 70% of power, shorten the appliance life by 15%, leave it susceptible to damaging current surges and be a fire risk. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that in the UK we waste over £1 billion worth of energy by leaving appliances on standby and individually we waste 10% of our electricity bill on standby power. Turning off standby is a key energy saving tip and we could save around £40 and 250kg of CO2 per year by just turning off our home entertainment systems when not in use. Therefore, investing in a standby saving product that ensures your appliances are turned off completely can save you a substantial amount of money on your bills.
For example, The Energenie is an automatic standby shutdown product that allows you to switch appliances- such as TVs, DVD players, radios, computers and so on- off, and not just to standby where energy is wasted. All you need to do to set it up is to plug the appliance into the Energenie which must then be plugged into the mains. When you switch the appliance to standby, the Energenie will shut it down completely after two minutes. It can be switched back on again by pressing the green button on the Energenie. This product is around £13, comes in recyclable packaging and is ideal for those that cannot get out of the habit of leaving appliances on standby (1).
Energenie has also created some other useful devices. The 30 Minute Rundown Timer Plug is designed to switch off appliances such as irons and hair straighteners (domestic appliances rated up to 13amps) after 30 minutes. It costs around £8 and is essentially a safety feature should these appliances be left on. Furthermore, the Radio Controlled Socket is available for people who have restricted mobility or for those hard to reach plugs. It controls up to 12 different sockets for any appliances and does not require direct line of sight to operate. In other words, it works even when sockets are hidden behind furniture. It has an on/off indicator light so you know which appliances are still wasting energy on standby (2).
Another great product is the Intellipanel for Desktop Computers. Once you shut down your computer, Intellipanel will automatically power off the peripherals such as printers, scanners, speakers and so on. This saves a great amount of energy and money as it is common for people to switch off their computer but leave these peripherals on standby, wasting a great deal of energy. Furthermore, when you switch the computer back on, the peripherals will switch back on too, saving the hassle of turning them on individually. It is also simple to set up as you just plug in the computer and all the other devices to the Intellipanel which then plugs into the wall.
The PC TrickleSaver is another device designed to stop the drain of standby power when computers and their peripherals are not being used. Similar to the Intellipanel, the TrickleSaver is plugged into the wall; the computer is plugged into the main socket and the peripherals to the remaining sockets on the TrickleSaver. However, there is also TrickleSwitch available which is designed to allow you to have the peripherals of your computer turned off if you don’t want to use them even when your computer is on. It plugs into the USB connection of your PC/Mac and is a button you can press when you want the peripherals on or off while your computer remains on (3).
Furthermore, the Ecobutton is an energy saving device for your computer that puts it into the most economical sleep mode available when it is not in use. To use you simply press the Ecobutton before leaving your computer unattended. It can them be switched back on (without anything being lost from your screen) by pressing any key on the keyboard. The calculated energy savings made by using the Ecobutton are also then displayed on the computer screen. However, this device is not compatible with Mac. It is fairly straight forward to set up as it just plugs into the USB port but first you need to install a free piece of software which you can download from eco-button.com. The button has an illuminating green light to remind you to press it before leaving your computer and is ideal for those toilet/coffee breaks or meetings where you do not want your computer to run at high power. The Ecobutton is available for around £12 (4).
The Savasocket is a multi-plug that has the ability to switch off televisions and other appliances all at once to avoid energy being wasted when things are on standby mode. However, an additional feature is that this multi-plug includes two sockets that are left permanently on. This is ideal as there are four sockets for appliances that can be switched off completely and two for products (such as digital set-top boxes) which need to be left on standby to maintain settings. Moreover, it incorporates an infra-red sensor which works with any infra-red remote control, which means there is no need for another remote control to switch everything off. When you turn your TV to standby, the Savasocket will automatically switch it off completely. This product costs around £19 and is great as it means you do not have to scramble around on the floor trying to reach sockets to turn them off.
Next, the Standby Buster is a remote controlled device designed to ensure that appliances are switched off completely when not in use. The Standby Buster is plugged into the wall, the remote is connected (involves pressing a couple of buttons) and the appliance, or multi-plug is plugged into the Standby Buster. One remote control can operate four zones which mean four appliances or group of appliances. To turn appliances off you simply press OFF in that zone and they will be switched off completely. To turn them back on you simply press ON. This product comes in recyclable packaging and is priced at under £15 for a socket and remote control with additional sockets available for about £9 (5).
Lastly, the Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit is around £19 and is now the UK’s best selling energy saving solution designed to reduce the daily energy consumption of electrical devices. They plug into a mains wall socket with the electrical appliances plugged directly into the device and work by using either the remote control (comes with it) or by pushing a wall switch. The remote control works through walls and ceilings and will cut power to the devices plugged into it with the push of a button. It is user-friendly and simple to install (6).
By using such simple devices as the ones described above, you could cut your electricity bills, reduce your carbon footprint, extend the life of your appliances and reduce the risk of fires in your home or office. These products help eliminate unnecessary standby power and take the hassle out of turning very appliance off at the mains.
(4) www.which.co.uk
