List of electricity saving devices
 

I was thinking we should come up with a list of electricity saving devices and devices that help save electricity. There are a lot of products out there and knowing what is out there can surely help us reduce our usage. So, if you know of, or use a product you like, please post it up and give picture, a quick blurb (even copy/paste the mfg's description) about what it is and what it does, and a link to the manufacturer's site would be good too.

I'll start things out with something I think almost all of us already have:



Kill a watt

http://www.p3international.com/produ...main_p4400.jpg

The kill a watt is a well known product that allows you to measure the energy consumption of 110V AC devices (not 220V). Dislpays: Volts, Amps, Watts, Hz, VA, and kWh used since plugged in. There are several versions with some additional functionality like wireless display, surge protection, power strip, timer, etc.

Manufacturer's site:
P3 - Kill A Watt

I bought a few of these Belkin's to be able to shut off the power on TV's and such that don't power off all the way:

F7C016q Belkin Conserve Power Switch™
http://www.belkin.com/images/product...C016_22208.jpg

It's pretty nice. You just go up to it and, click, it's off. And the other outlet is still available to use which is nice.

In the same trend as these devices I have a home automation system that has outlets that can monitor (some of them can) energy usage and they can be shut off via a utility on my tablet. I can hit one button on this utility to turn everything in the house off. It also controls my thermostat so I can set it to 50° when I'm going to be away for a while and I can remotely have it warm up the house right before I get home. I plan on adding an outlet outside this coming winter so I can have better control over when the block heater for my car fires up.

Bits limited makes some very nice power strips.

I've personally used the LCG3 on my computer setup for a while now and it works wonderfully for killing phantom loads. This power strip has one 'master' outlet, a few 'slave' outlets, and a few 'always on' outlets. The slave outlets do not get power unless the device plugged into the master outlet is turned on. So, I plug my computer box into the master, and then plug my monitor, speakers, and printer into the slave outlets.

Bits Limited - LCG3

http://bitsltd.net/images/imageandgr...temDetails.jpg




They also have a 'charging station' power strip which is pretty cool. This power strip works a bit differently. It monitors how much power the devices use and is specifically made for chargers. You connect your devices to the switched outlets and hit a button on the power strip to turn it on. It watches the power draw and when things are done charging it completely turns off power to the switched outlets eliminating any standby losses. This isn't as useful for modern switching wall wart type chargers, but for the old brick types can save some decent power. It also has some 'always on' outlets as well.

Bits Limited - SPG3

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1341336503

How about a timer? Works wonders with anything that you won't be using between certain hours.

http://goodhydro.com/images/timer.jpg
(Generic picture)

Timers are great. However, they do use power too (usually very small amounts). I've noticed this when I hook up my block heater in winter. I have it on a timer and when I put a kill a watt on it I can see the power being used even if I don't plug the block heater in. Are there more/less efficient timers?

Speaking of timers, I did just pickup a Belkin timer. It works a little different than most timers. This one works off the push of a button. You set the timer on the side of the unit for 1/2 hr, 3hrs, or 6 hrs. It turns the outlet on for that amount of time, then shuts the power completely off. While it is on it has a light on it to show you. I liked this idea because there isn't even the standby losses of the timer keeping its clock going. However, you do have to press the button on top to turn the outlet on.

F7C009 Belkin Conserve Socket™

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1341343532

I have a Black and Decker Power Monitor model EM100B. It works reasonably well and it was interesting to see the A/C using between 2.3kw and 2.5kw depending on outdoor and indoor ambient temps. The bad thing is the real-time data has a 300 watt minimum so it will cycle between 0 and 300 watts if the load is low, which for my house is always unless I'm running something with high-load (fridge defrost coil, laundry, kitchen heating appliances, dishwasher, a/c, etc). Kill-a-watt works better when monitoring small loads as its far more accurate and specific to what it is connected to.

Mounts to the power meter and an IR eye reads counts the rotations. Also works with electronic meters by pointing it through the diagnostic hole where the electronic meters blink.
http://i.testfreaks.com/blog/wp-cont...dscf9296-2.jpg

Here's the box.
http://i.testfreaks.com/blog/wp-cont...dscf7655-4.jpg

Bought it used for $32 but they can be found for about $50 new.
Eventually I will sell this and get a TED since it reads current both ways for when I get solar electric PV panels installed.

Our local government gave us a Belkin power shut off for the TV. When you use the remote control to switch off the TV it detects the signal and switches the mains supply for the TV. It then detects the signal from the remote to switch itself back on when you want to watch TV again.
They came an installed it (plugged the TV into it?) for free as well.

I think there was one for PC's as well, we have a laptop so we didn't need/couldn't use it.

Do you have a link to that item nitro-nige?

BTW welcome to the site!

I thought it was Belkin, but I checked and it's Embertec

Look up nuestandby.com.au/products

http://nuestandby.com.au/_images/products-1.jpg

Sorry, should have done an intro.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I've come across from Ecomodder. I figure I should concentrate on renovating our house first.