Switch off & unplug

gromituk

Yes, dimmed lamps take less power, but they do not operate as efficiently as full brightness lamps, so for a certain light level, it is more efficient to have a low power lamp on full brightness than a high power lamp dimmed.

moonrakerz

gromituk wrote:

I am glad to hear it.
Like who?

Like our so called political leaders and the self appointed experts who populate our TV screens most of the time !

gromituk

That's true!

judderman62

Thanks for the reply

gromituk wrote:

Yes, dimmed lamps take less power, but they do not operate as efficiently as full brightness lamps, so for a certain light level, it is more efficient to have a low power lamp on full brightness than a high power lamp dimmed.

Andreg

Modern desktop computers draw a huge amount of power when they are plugged in but not turned on. They are effectively in standby mode with the power supply transformer producing heat. Always turn your PC off at the wall when you're not using it. You might as well also turn off the wireless router, printer etc.

Stilernin, so long as there's nothing plugged into a socket, there will be no circuit and the only current (and hence power consumption) flowing will be caused by the capacitance in the cables. At 50Hz this current will be absolutely minimal - effectively nothing.

If a radio is plugged in but switched 'off' it depends on the appliance whether 'off' really means off. Many modern appliances apart from PCs still draw some power even when supposedly turned off. For example, my mobile phone charger gets warm when plugged into the mains even if there's no phone plugged in to it, demonstrating that it is wasting electricity.

Cardew

Andreg wrote:

Modern desktop computers draw a huge amount of power when they are plugged in but not turned on. They are effectively in standby mode with the power supply transformer producing heat. Always turn your PC off at the wall when you're not using it. You might as well also turn off the wireless router, printer etc.

Stilernin, so long as there's nothing plugged into a socket, there will be no circuit and the only current (and hence power consumption) flowing will be caused by the capacitance in the cables. At 50Hz this current will be absolutely minimal - effectively nothing.

If a radio is plugged in but switched 'off' it depends on the appliance whether 'off' really means off. Many modern appliances apart from PCs still draw some power even when supposedly turned off. For example, my mobile phone charger gets warm when plugged into the mains even if there's no phone plugged in to it, demonstrating that it is wasting electricity.

I would agree with all you say except "Modern desktop computers draw a huge amount of power when they are plugged in but not turned on."

My modern PC draws under 3 watts when turned off; and that is not my definition of a "huge amount of power"; and costs under £2 a year if left on 24/7 and obviously much less considering it is in use for considerable periods.

I am not arguing that things shouldn't be switched off; but that we should get things in perspective.

So much is made of the 'huge' standby consumption of electronic appliances that many people mistakenly think that their TV on standby etc is the main cause of high consumption.

SaverSarah_2

gromituk wrote: »

Interesting - can you point me at an example of one that doesn't, please?

And I'd also be interested for you to tell me what proportion of mobile phone chargers behave in this way.

Nice one

:rotfl:

SaverSarah_2

judderman62 wrote: »

I have dimmer switches throughout my flat so can't use energy saving bulbs

Yes you can:

http://www.ebulbshop.com/acatalog/11_watt_Magaman_DorS_Dimming_Energy
.html#aF11BCDIM_20BIN_20D073

These aren't cheap but if you don't want to swap your dimmable switches for regular on/off switches they're a great option.

When we moved to our current home there were dimmer switches in the bedrooms which we didn't need as we have lamps, so we swapped the switches so we could use standard energy-efficient bulbs.

We like our dimmer switches in the living room though, so we invested in two of these. The savings over time will recoup the initial cost and more. There's even a video on this site that shows how these bulbs can work with a standard switch as well as dimmer switches.

We've now got energy-efficient bulbs in every single room in our house now, thanks to these. We pay £44 per month to Good Energy (renewable energy) for four of us in a large four-bedroomed house and we're overpaid on our bills at the moment.

Smug, moi?

:rotfl:

Altarf

SaverSarah wrote: »

We pay £44 per month to Good Energy (renewable energy)

You do know that the electricity companies have the 'green' customers marked down as mugs they can rip off.

The electricity companies have a legal obligation to buy a certain proportion of renewable energy. It was envisaged that consumer demand for renewable electricity would mean that they would have to buy more than their legal obligation to meet demand. However due to the higher charges they make for their 'green' tariffs they cannot get rid of the renewable electricity they are legally obliged to buy, let alone need more, so the surplus renewable electricity is also supplied to customers on normal tariffs.

So even if you and all the other 'green' customers swapped back to normal tariffs, the electricity companies would still supply the same amount of renewable electricity as they do now. All you are doing is increasing their profits.

And if £44 is for electricity only that seems pretty high to me.

Cardew

SaverSarah wrote: »

Smug, moi?

:rotfl:

Non. C'est les propriétaires de l'énergie de bon qui sont suffisants.;)