Phone Chargers...

Altarf

deanos wrote:

I dont think they mean turning things off at the plug like Sky+ off that need to be on

No that is the stupidity of the EST, they do mean that you should turn everything off at the wall.

Don't believe me, then have a look at their website
http://www.est.org.uk/aboutest/news/pressreleasesarchive/index.cfm?mode=view&press_id=414

Where they moan about "A VCR, for example, can use a whopping 85% of it's total power consumption when left on standby!" So what are used supposed to do?
A - Not record anything
B - Reset the time and date settings everytime you want to record something (and yes I know some do this automatically, but it would be a waste of energy to throw a way a working VCR that didn't to buy a VCR that did).
C - Hire a butler to turn on the VCR for you.

The trouble is that their sensible suggestions get lost in the stupidity.

robellett

edited..
Where they moan about "A VCR, for example, can use a whopping 85% of it's total power consumption when left on standby!" So what are used supposed to do?
A - Not record anything
B - Reset the time and date settings everytime you want to record something (and yes I know some do this automatically, but it would be a waste of energy to throw a way a working VCR that didn't to buy a VCR that did).
C - Hire a butler to turn on the VCR for you.

The trouble is that their sensible suggestions get lost in the stupidity.[/QUOTE]

I turn everything off that isn't going to need power in the immediate future. Eg. leave video on when needed in short-term absences, if recording required. DVD,TV,Microwave etc off.

I relent with my computer which stays on24x7.It runs a cancer research programme and sends its results back every day, when I'm online.A -ve for the environment but for a good cause.
http://www.grid.org/home.htm

I keep the unnecessary lights off and wear sensible clothing at home, allowing the thermostat to be set lower yet comfortable.

brassmonkey001

"A VCR, for example, can use a whopping 85% of it's total power consumption when left on standby!"

Sounds about right. If you consider how many hours use it gets recording or playing throughout the course of a year, and how long it's just sitting there on standby. It all depends on your usage really. If you only video one hour long show per week and watch it later in the week then that's 104 hours per year use leaving 8632 hours on standby. I'd like to express it as a percentage but my maths gets a bit shaky there.

brassmonkey001

Oh yes, back to the original point, you can buy solar chargers.
There's one here that will do batteries and phones and assorted electrical items. I don't know what it's like but I'm thinking I might buy one.

C_Ronaldo

Gorgeous_George wrote:

I believe leaving phone chargers on can be a fire risk.

I'm more interested in TVs. Apparently, switching these off completely rather than leaving them on standby cn save you £40 per year. I've worked out that if I do this with all my TVs, the electric company will owe me money!



GG

how can leaving chargers on be a fire risk

gromituk

Because they have active circuits in them even though they are not providing any power to charge a phone battery. They're not more likely to burst into flames than if they had a phone attached, but they're not as safe as if they were switched off.

Savvy_Sue

C_Ronaldo wrote:

how can leaving chargers on be a fire risk

Have you not noticed how warm they get when left on? And I think (past experience here!) they get hotter if left on but not charging!

SusanCarter

Almost anything electrical can be a fire risk but some things are obviously higher risk than others. (Did anyone see the thing on Watchdog about hair straighteners which caught fire when switched off but plugged in?) If something left plugged into the mains but not being used feels warm then it is probably using electricity.

I started unplugging my charger when I got a new phone a couple of years ago. If it's plugged in and not charging it makes a very faint high pitched sound. This does mean I know when the phone is fully charged but is irritating so I unplug the charger when I take the phone off. I never knew that it used any electricity until an electrician told us which was after I'd started unplugging it anyway.

I guess for each electrical item any individual has to weigh up the benefits of disconnecting it from the mains against the disadvantages. I always switch off the sockets to our computers as this has no effect on the computer and requires little effort. (This also meant that when a premium rate number came up on my phone bill I got a refund as BT couldn't claim that my computer had got a virus and dialled it through the modem.) I don't switch off the socket to the TV/video etc because it would defeat the point of the VCR and it would require an unreasonable amount of furniture moving.

The OP was just trying to give some information which people may not know so that they could make their own decisions.

gromituk

SusanCarter wrote:

If something left plugged into the mains but not being used feels warm then it is probably using electricity.

It definitely is, assuming it's not just been switched off and is still cooling down!

I always switch off the sockets to our computers as this has no effect on the computer

It does - modern computers don't have proper switches and take power all the time!

SusanCarter

gromituk wrote:

It does - modern computers don't have proper switches and take power all the time!

I meant it doesn't have any adverse effect on the computer in terms of our usage of it so we don't lose anything by switching them off at the socket(unlike a video recorder for example where it would be pretty useless if we kept switching it off). Sorry if I didn't make it clear.