The definitive on energy drain in OFF ??? do you agree?

[samintx]

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_consciou...ction.html

[BigGuynRusty]

Totally True!!!
Many folks here have said this over and over, bunch of pretty smart folks here.
You should read the forum once in awhile, get some smarts.
Nothing in StandBy is Truly Off!!

BGnR

[GGD]

You might consider buying a Kill-a-Watt and then you can measure what things in your house consume.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU

[AlphaDog]

Geez, I thought she was referring to mosquito spray sucking the life out of us when we were covered in it. (Obviously I didn't read the article.)

[Filliam H. Muffman]

A lot of things use power when off. How much depends on how old they are. Most people never think about turning the cable/DSL modem, wireless router, printer, external hard drive off when they know they will not be using them for several hours.

I now have two power strips near the computer. One is for computer, DSL modem, display. The second has printer, hard drives, cell phone charger, etc. When the second power strip is on with only the wallwarts plugged in but none of the devices connected, it draws 6 Watts according to the Kill-a-watt.

Back when I had Expanded Basic cable, the Scientific Atlanta cable box used 28 Watts when it was plugged in but turned "off" and 36 Watts turned on. My combo VCR/DVD player uses 10 Watts when "off" and 21 Watts turned on. I had those on a power strip that I would turn off when I was not watching and did not have any programs scheduled to record.

[Sam3]

Don't ever put a printer on a power strip and use that to turn the printer off. Especially Epsons. Turning the power strip off does not allow the heads to park and seal properly, thereby causing clogs.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Sam3 wrote:
Don't ever put a printer on a power strip and use that to turn the printer off. Especially Epsons. Turning the power strip off does not allow the heads to park and seal properly, thereby causing clogs.

I have never heard that. Can you point it out in a manual somewhere?

[BigGuynRusty]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
[quote=Sam3]
Don't ever put a printer on a power strip and use that to turn the printer off. Especially Epsons. Turning the power strip off does not allow the heads to park and seal properly, thereby causing clogs.

I have never heard that. Can you point it out in a manual somewhere? I'm pointing at my manual now, you see?
Try Google, tons of hits, one snippet.:
"I turn my computer and my printer off every night with a power strip, now my printing is very poor?

You must always turn your Epson (or any inkjet printer) off using the power button on the printer. If you do not, you chance the possibility that the print carriage will not be at it’s home position. This leaves the print heads open to air and allows the ink to dry in the nozzles. Using the power button on the printer to turn it off, will return the heads and cartridges to their home position, usually at the right of the printer. This protects the heads and cartridges from drying out. Once the printer is off, then you may use the power strip to turn the rest of the equipment off."

BGnR

[Racer X]

Tis true. I have had a SC800, SC850 and currently have a SC740 and a Photo 1200 and home, and a Photo 1200 at work.

When you use the power button, the carriage returns, and the heads park on the absorbant ink pad. Greatly reduces any ink on the end of the nozzles from crusting over. If you print every day, and use a power strip, I can see how it may not clog. But if you kill it with a power strip, and seldom print, not a good idea.

The owners manuals tell you to use the power button, and not kill it at the strip, but they never bother to tell you WHY. We just did.

[olnacl]

I've cut my electric bill by more than 50% with a combination of higher thermostat settings on the A/C, less use of heat on chilly mornings (don't turn it on unless the house temp drops below 60 degrees during the day - doesn't happen often), replaced all (except a few candelabra) light bulbs with CFL which I turn off when not in use, even for a few minutes.

I added remote controlled switches to power strips that relate to certain devices, so any not actively in use can be turned off completely (This includes laptop A/C adapter, external monitor, external speakers, external drives directly connected to a particular computer, scanner). My printers are switched off unless being used (that's a little inconvenient, but I put up with it).

I measured all my 110V electrical devices with a Kil-A-Watt meter in standby mode. Here are consumption figures for several common devices that I do not "unplug" when idle: Airport Express-2 , Sony stereo amp/tuner-0 , SA Cable Box (not a recorder)-14, Pioneer HDD/DVD recorder-12, Tivo-37, Sony 55" LCD projection TV-0, WII-1, Hitachi 50" LCD projection TV-0. I also leave on 24/7 my cable modem, Airport Extreme, IP telephone adapter and 2 USB HDDs used as NAS . Last month's bill was $47 compared to $80+ for the same month last year. Each month since I made the changes has shown similar savings - more so in summer.