Wednesday 18 January 2006

Smart Power Strip

We, elearning professional, use computer and monitors, right? How often do you switch off your computer AND monitor when finished?

I use my laptop mainly these days because I can use both the laptop screen and a second attached monitor so that I have more screen estate. When I am not going to use my laptop for a while, I close the lid which will automatically put it to hibernation. In that mode, my monitor would theoretically auto turn-off and go into standby mode. However, it is still comsuming some power - the standby transformer of the laptop and the standby power of the monitor.

It does not sound saving a lot of energy if the power board can automatically switch off the power supplied to the standby device. But this is what this piece of cool tool does and I think it really matters.

This is so simple. You plug your PC into the main socket, and then plug your printer, scanner, monitor etc into the other sockets. When you turn off your computer, the smart unit shuts the power off to the other sockets. Saves power from constantly-on transformers, saves the environment, and saves lives from electrical fires caused by overheated DC adaptors.


I have read (but cannot verify) that there is a 90% lost during journey for the power generated at the power station to our home. That's every Joule saved at the consumer end will save 10 Joules at the generator! When added up, that would help.

I am going to buy a few if I can find an Australian version.

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