TrickleStar Says it Will Slash Your Electricity Bill by 12 Percent
Last week we took a look at Harriet Carter’s energy-saving outlet switch. Now a company called TrickleStar claims it has a different solution for conserving electricity: the PC Standby Power Saver. TrickleStar’s device connects to your computer via USB on one end and connects to a power strip on the other end. When the computer is turned off, the device cuts off power to peripherals plugged into the strip. The device turns the peripherals back on when the computer is booted up.
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TrickleStar says its device can slash your electric bill by as much as 12 percent, but there is no concrete evidence to back up the claim. And many people—including myself— leave their computers in standby mode, rendering the Power Saver useless.
If you want to put TrickleStar’s lofty claims to the test, the Power Saver will be available in January 2009.
Photo Credit: TrickleStar
The Smart Strip seems like a better solution. I use it for my TV and peripherals, but I think it could be easily used for a computer. It also allows you to adjust the sensitivity.
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-SCG3-049418906-Autoswitching/dp/B000P1QJXQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1226440766&sr=8-2
I’m voting for the Smart Strip. These things are great. You turn off your PC and anything else turns off automatically. Doesn’t work for laptops, but it’s cheap and great for corporate use.
When my iMac goes into standby (sleep), USB shuts down. I don’t know if I could power my peripherals with it (would my external hard drives spin up faster than the OS could realize they were down?), but I don’t see why this is specifically useless to those of us who don’t completely power off.
It is best to do this with all your appliances not just your computer. I did not realize until recently how many electronics still used energy even when they are shut down. The best solution is to plug them into a power strip and turn it off when your done. You can save a decent amount of change on your bills this way.