"The tastiest technical solution – MSE forum's infrared solution" blog discussion

ShaneUK

Not very Money Saving though Martin, is it. First of all not one, but two tins/boxes of chocolates. Did you really need them, or were you just buying them for a sweet wrapper. Perhaps if it was for the wrapper, a large "purple one" or similar (you can get them on their own) would have been a better option? Much cheaper as well.

Secondly - switching off at the wall would be a better option, or a free gadget that turns off items left on standyby, which of course is then better for the environment, but also better for your pocket as you spend a little less on electricity.

Admittedly I did have a similar problem recently. I bought a new alarm clock, that was also an iPod dock. Only problem was, when it was plugged in the blue hew of the light from the clock literally lit up the whole room! The only solution was to turn the clock around so it was against the wall - not very helpful for reading the time though when you wake up at 4 in the morning! Only solution was to get a different one.

pandora_ann

paulneale wrote: »

That would have to be a seriously hungry LED to use £13 of electricity! I think you'd be dead before you broke even, and whether the environment would ever get pay-back on the resources used to make those sorts of devices is questionable to say the least!

It was just a suggestion, like I said, I haven't actually tried one. We're always being told much money we can save by not leaving things on standby but some plugs are too hard to reach without moving heavy furniture. But I guess leaving things on standby isn't really a problem at all then. :undecided

Tupperware_Queen

why not use the free lime socket thingy that switches the socket off when you turn off the TV...do you know how much a TV on standby costs!!!

JimmyTheWig

How much does a TV on standby cost?

natsplatnat

Tupperware_Queen wrote: »

why not use the free lime socket thingy that switches the socket off when you turn off the TV...do you know how much a TV on standby costs!!!

Has anyone else received a product recall for one of these? Sorry - a little off topic, but was originally free via this site!

foundationsmcr

I have to say I'm surprised that you've not considered the obvious and cheapest option (as someone else has said) switch it off at the mains?!

Hardly MSE methodology.

soya

natsplatnat wrote: »

Has anyone else received a product recall for one of these? Sorry - a little off topic, but was originally free via this site!

got a product recall letter last month.... haven't receive the replacement yet.

rpb

paulneale wrote: »

That would have to be a seriously hungry LED to use £13 of electricity! I think you'd be dead before you broke even, and whether the environment would ever get pay-back on the resources used to make those sorts of devices is questionable to say the least!

For a modern TV you'd like to think it would use little power on standby, although Martin's TV is doing more than just lighting the LED! The LED shouldn't take more than a few tens of milliwatts, but there is also the IR detection circuitry running (so the remote can turn the TV on), plus loss in the transformer and various other places, plus usage elsewhere depending on what else the designers have the TV do when it's in standby (plus a lot more waste the older the TV is).

As I mentioned in another post, a rough rule-of-thumb (at current electricity prices) is that each watt an appliance uses, if left on all the time (24 hours a day), costs about a pound a year. So for a £13 "smartplug" to pay for itself you'd have to use it to save 13 watts for a year, or one watt for 13 years, etc. And for environmental reasons you'd need it to save much more than that to offset the carbon footprint of manufacturing the smart plug in the first place, shipping it, store overhead, etc., plus all its other footprints (heavy metals used in its manufacture, damage to the planet in mining for its resources, factory inefficiencies, etc.)

[Update - title should have read "13 watt years"!]

WallyBird

soya wrote: »

got a product recall letter last month.... haven't receive the replacement yet.

Same here!

janaltus

Martin writes: " ... a TV in the bedroom ... "

If you are concerned about sleep hygiene ... BEWARE!

:eek: