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Old 04-24-13, 02:09 PM   #11
Piwoslaw
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A few vampires that I have hunted down in our house:
  • Driveway gate controller/motor - 32W (more during the few seconds per day when actually opening/closing the gate),
  • Microwave oven lcd display - 5W,
  • Stove lcd display - 3W,
  • Stereo - 10W in standby, 11W with radio on,
  • Kitchen radio - 6W when off, 6.5W when on,
  • TV+DVD+SAT+Stereo - 20W (all "OFF" or in standby),
  • Desktop+LCD monitor+printer - 15W (ditto),
  • Doorbell transformer - 5W,
  • Boiler - 2.5-3.2W in standby.

Many of these are on a switch/power strip or are simply unplugged, the gate controller's circuit breaker if flipped off when both cars are at home, the boiler is unplugged during the warmer months, the doorbell is on its own circuit breaker so I sometimes flip it off when nobody is home.

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Old 04-24-13, 02:15 PM   #12
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I wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to try to find a switching mode power supply for your door bell? Then you wouldn't have to worry about it at all.
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Old 04-24-13, 09:21 PM   #13
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Door bells could be full 120v and save the transformer vampire?
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Old 04-24-13, 10:38 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
I wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to try to find a switching mode power supply for your door bell? Then you wouldn't have to worry about it at all.
Are those for AC to DC only? Our doorbell's transformer is AC to AC (230->12). Anyhow it's more than just a doorbell, more like an intercom, thought that feature is never used. It wasn't my idea, go figure
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Old 04-24-13, 10:41 PM   #15
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Door bells could be full 120v and save the transformer vampire?
That could give new meaning to the phrase "you are invited over for dinner!"
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Old 04-24-13, 10:48 PM   #16
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I have to tell you all, finding and ripping out the doorbell transformer in my house last week was a perverse pleasure

My wife came home to find the transformer laying on the kitchen counter like a slain beast. She knew I was feeling mighty male and proud. The heart of the targ was on display.

Just do not try to eat the thing.
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Old 04-25-13, 08:57 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ELGo View Post
It is really quite amazing how much electricity a home can waste doing nothing. Between devices on for remote control sensing, to powering built-in electronics, it is pretty easy to waste 50 - 200 watts 24/7. Every always on watt works out to be about 0.73 kwh a month.
I like to think long term, at what point are you going to get lazy and stop turning off the power strip or unplugging the device or get tired of not having a working door bell.

So I wonder about matching your house's standby demand with grid tied PV and a micro inverter, even if you have an electric meter that can't run backwards a very small PV system that was designed to stall your electric meter would work great! you can get PV panels with an AC output from a built in micro inverter so the panel gets hard wired right in to your house, in theory you could even put a standard cord plug on it and plug it in to an outlet and have it back feed... not recommended at all but it really is that simple!

Personally I try not to buy stuff that has standby electrical use but I'm sure I still have 20 watts or more from GFI outlets, wireless internet router and motion sensor light switches.
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Old 04-25-13, 09:37 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryland View Post
I like to think long term,
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at what point are you going to get lazy and stop turning off the power strip
Reasonable question. For me at least, it is a matter of habit. I don't think about turning stuff off
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or unplugging the device
I do notice if something is running and not being used.
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or get tired of not having a working door bell.
Around the time my visitors are unable to knock.

My wife and I are contrasts here, and she probably matches your description of someone who, absent my nagging, would quickly revert to wasteful habits. E.g., any space she enters into she pretty much automatically turns on a light. She has to think about turning the light off. I turn on a light if it is too dark LOL. I'm hopeful that her auto behaviour will change, but it has been ingrained for a long time.

Quote:
So I wonder about matching your house's standby demand with grid tied PV and a micro inverter, even if you have an electric meter that can't run backwards a very small PV system that was designed to stall your electric meter would work great!
I don't really have any desire to offset a kwh used for one purpose vs another purpose. Clean energy is good. Period.

My local circumstances pretty much dictate for now that any clean energy I generate will be off-site from my home. I avidly follow the emerging PV co-op movement in CA and now in CO, and you can bet I will be one of first to sign up when possible in my state. I also keep pretty close track of the investment scene for clean energy, and am always on the lookout for opportunities to develop clean energy that returns 4% over inflation. I will put a sizeable fraction of my retirement savings into that sort of venture. I like windmills as much or more than PV/thermal, but in the US co-op wind seems even less likely. Too bad, really.

None of the above dissuades me from energy conservation, which I view as synergistic with clean energy production. Let me put it this way: Whether a kWh is not used, or a kWh generated cleanly, that is one less kWh generated from coal -- hopefully. Certainly as clean energy is able to provide an ever increasing fraction of the demand, the support for coal will diminish. The day when coal is not needed is still far, far away. The day when clean energy is in EXCESS, and EVs become a vehicle for clean transport -- even further away.

I try to do my part to hasten the arrival of a fossil-fuel free society. So to answer your question, my flip switching behavior is unlikely to change.

Last edited by ELGo; 04-25-13 at 09:49 AM..
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Old 04-27-13, 04:01 AM   #19
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To keep from plugging and unplugging you could have a switch in the cable or on the plug itself:
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Old 04-27-13, 09:30 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ELGo View Post


I reluctantly agree to put up with these mosquitoes:
5. iMac during sleep -- 1.7 watts
6. Light in the garage for our cats -- 3 watts
7. Wi-fi router and modem -- 6 watts. It can be much more
8. Fan with remote control -- left alone (for now) since summer is approaching. Perhaps 2 - 3 watts.
9. Stove LCD clock -- 3 watts
Cats have excellent night vision. No need for the light in the garage.

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