standby saver plugs

clachan

I have been looking at the standby saver plugs for use with the TV etc.
BUT if I turn the electricity off on the 4 way plug switch I use, is this any different to using a saver plug? I always switch off the computer and periferals early evening switching on again in the morning. So the PC etc is on standby when not in use during parts of the day.
I have been advised by SKY never to turn the power off at the mains just to leave on standby when not in use. Just seams a waste of enery to do this.
Can anyone please explain the difference.

penrhyn

Modern TVs use very little power on standby.
The standby saver devices are convenient but are just the same as turning off at the mains.
Sky boxes have an auto standby feature to save power and are designed to remain on.
They consume around 12 watts on standby. This would cost around 4.5p a day.

Cardew

clachan wrote: »

Can anyone please explain the difference.

Sorry, not sure if I have understood your question!

The standby savers, simply shut off the mains electricity to the appliances - but of course use a tiny amount of power themselves.

Is Sky advising that you never turn off mains to all appliances or simply the Sky box?

There really is far too much emphasis placed on standby saving. For instance all TVs in my house if left on standby 24/7 would each cost less than £1 a year.

Before the 'standby police' get indignant, I am not suggesting you shouldn't switch off at the plug if you want. However it really doesn't make much economic sense to buy something costing £20 or so to save pennies.

Little_Maya

Unless you've got a mobility problem or the sockets are not accessible I really can't see the point of the standby saver plugs

I always switch the tv and sky box off (normal one, not the sky +) at the socket when not in use and have never had any issues.

clachan

Thanks for all the replies. It has become an issue because my Freesat keeps reverting to London region instead of BBC1 Scotland. This means that I am unable to watch some programmes (eg. FIVEUSA) which is not available through the BBC 1 London channel. Sky tell me I should not switch off Freesat at the mains....... Have known telephones to be destroyed and I lost a PC due to storms in our area!.
As I watch the TV quite often in the bedroom I find the red standby lights quite distracting.
From your comments it would seem that I have no alternative but to putting up with those annoying TV and connected DVD player stanby lights..

Cardew

clachan wrote: »

From your comments it would seem that I have no alternative but to putting up with those annoying TV and connected DVD player stanby lights..

Stick some tape over the lights!

killer_cam

hi mate,

if you turn sky off when you next turn it on it will say searching for listings 4 mins later and you can whach tv it just takes a little longer to turn on but it saves lyk 10P in to days so 20 days thats £1

st999

The socket where my TV is plugged in is behind the tv and is inaccessible and I use the power down adapter. I think it is brilliant, turns off the DVD player as well which has been on standby for the past 3 years.

I got it free from Eon so I use it.

I also have an electricity monitor and it shows where you can save on electricity but after a while the novelty wears off. I never really reduced my electricity consumption by very much but then there is just 2 over 60's in the house and we never leave anything on unnecessarily anyway.

Same with the monitor I got it free. In fact I don't use it anymore as I needed the power supply for something else.

:rolleyes:Anyone interested in a used Eon monitor without a power supply?:rolleyes: make me an offer;)

williham

Cardew wrote: »

There really is far too much emphasis placed on standby saving. For instance all TVs in my house if left on standby 24/7 would each cost less than £1 a year.

Are you sure?
My sony TV that has an energy saving standby uses 1w on standby and even this would be over £1 for the year..
My little samsung tft uses about 20w so this would be more than £20 a year.

Have you actually measured what it uses?

moonrakerz

I think this whole "standby" thing has reached the realms of stupidity. Never mind saving the polar bears - if it saves you money with no problems - switch it off, if not, leave it in standby !

My 42" Plasma TV uses 0.4W in standby, I switch it on when I first want to watch it and switch it off when I go to bed - in between programmes, which is actually most of the time, it stays in standby.

My Sky box stays in standby, for two main reasons:
1. I don't want to wait whilst it retunes itself or downloads new software which it missed at 3 in the morning.
2. Switching it on and off does more harm than good. Unlike my TV, it only has a 12 month warranty !

Cardew

williham wrote: »

Are you sure?
My sony TV that has an energy saving standby uses 1w on standby and even this would be over £1 for the year..
My little samsung tft uses about 20w so this would be more than £20 a year.

Have you actually measured what it uses?

Yes I am sure!

A TV using 1 Watt on stand by will use 8.76kWh a year if left on 24/7 365 days a year.(24 x 365/1,000). So @10p kWh = 87.6p a year.

My old(8/9 years) Sony 32" CRT uses 0.6 watts, A similar age 27" Panasonic CRT uses 0.9 watts and new 37" Panasonic LCD uses 0.4 watts.

These confirmed by handbook and with power meter.

All of the manufacturers signed up years ago to reduce standby consumption to less than 1 Watt.

If your 'Samsung tft' uses 20 watts then surely it must be set for DVB recording.