While I commend the idea, the execution leaves a bit to be desired
My friend David pointed at another device that turns off one appliance when another is shut off or in standby. It joins a number of other devices and tricks that can be used to cut power consumption, and I commend its general concept.
There are two versions of the TrickleSaver. One is for for TV, and it uses the same technique the SmartStrip family does: when the load falls below a certain threshold, the box shuts the secondary supply off. Nothing magical there.
The PC model is interesting, yet flawed. Instead of using the load to determine when the computer is on, it uses PC’s USB state. It therefore can’t detect sleep.
They even admit it on their web site:
The PC TrickleSaver requires the PC to switched off completely.
The PC TrickleSaver will not work when a PC is placed into a sleep / hibernation state.
If you require peripheral devices to switch off in a sleep / hibernation state, a TV TrickleSaver should be used.
In other words, don’t buy it if you want your peripherals to shut of when the PC is in sleep/hibernate. The only possible reason to use this over the TV TrickleSaver is if you want to charge a laptop; the TV version won’t work with laptops because they draw high current when off, charging their batteries.
At least they make a button to manually cut off the peripherals, which is somewhat redeeming. I’m guessing that it opens the USB circuit and thus sets the device off. This is something my SmartStrip can’t currently do; I have to choose to turn off my monitor/lights/speakers manually or sleep the computer.
The TV version doesn’t interest me since I have a power strip and a finger to flick the switch. The biggest innovation here is the PC cut off button. You could write ’save me energy’ all over it. But until this device can handle sleep/hibernate, my smart strip is still the more capable power saver at the desktop.
The TV TrickleSaver is a decent device though. I agree with Dave. You can just shut the power strip off. Or if it’s in an out of the way place, you could get the Belkin Conserve, which provides a big old switch for your thunking pleasure.
As an aside, my next area to optimize DMAIC style is the entertainment center. Thus far I’ve found that it’s not sleep that gets you with consoles, it’s using them for anything but playing games. But more on that later.
[via Gizmodo via Ohgizmo! via GoNintendo via prweb oh you have got to be kidding me.]
5 Comments
First off this comment is not exactly related the post, however after reading about the Trickle saver I thought more about what the device is trying to accomplish: use let power.
How about requiring consumer electronic companies to disclose power consumption information more clearly? Also, it would be great if everyone knew the difference between “off” and “standby”. I don’t think the average consumer has an understanding of phantom power. I’m thinking something along the lines of a nutrition label for electronics. Don’t get me wrong, these types of devices are important, however more information to the average consumer would be nice.
I agree that the goal is to use less power in general. Where I disagree with the design of the PC version is that it only does this when the computer is absolutely dead off, unless you get the option switch that allows you to manually shut the peripherals down. To be fair, they do mention that you should use the TV model if you want to have sleep-level shutdown of devices, but at that point, why make a PC version?
I think at a minimum clear disclosure of phantom power, rms average, peak, and BTU range would be nice. The Apple documentation on their desktops disclose all of this information pretty well. You can find a link to this info at the bottom of the desktop article.
Not switching the peripherals off when the computer goes to sleep may be intentional. Many operating systems will wake from sleep when they detect device changes over the USB bus (which includes both disconnecting devices and powering them off).
I know this all too well. My DAC 1 USB is no longer connected via USB and is instead using an optical line because of it. But since it draws 8 watts on standby, I had to make exceptions for it. The other three peripherals attached to my SmartStrip are not USB, and I’m sure there are plenty of chargers, monitors and speakers that could stand to be shut off.
They also specifically say you should not plug in external hard drives on the controlled outlet. That’s another big class of hardware off the list. Of course, if you had something like a time machine volume on an Airport, it would be staying up and available anyway.
I got myself a Belkin Conserve to try to shut off all of the “ghost” power in the entertainment center (plasma TV, Wii, Receiver, PS2, Mac Mini). I got a rude surprise though. The Conserve uses more power than the standby power on all of those devices. The mini is the only item not on the switched ports and not in standby, and with the crappy power strip from Wal-Mart, everything was drawing 22W. Put the Conserve on, with the mini in the unswitched port (wait until the Mini boots back up…), it’s drawing 35W. Not much of a power saver to me. Other than the entertainment center which we don’t use all that often, I can’t think of any other use for the Conserve.