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Using a timer
Not 100% sure if this is the right sub-forum so feel free to move if needs be.
Most of us put our phone's on charge "overnight" - for me this is 10pm till 7am, however as we all know, phone's don't need anywhere near that kind of time to fully charge.
I've therefore been using a timer over the last month or two. I turn the power on at the wall socket at 10pm & turn it off at 7am, but instead of it being on all the time, I've got the timer to go on/off on/off throughout the night.
My question is, am I saving any energy? The timer is being powered for the entire duration, but it's only feeding power to my phone 50% of the time.
Most of us put our phone's on charge "overnight" - for me this is 10pm till 7am, however as we all know, phone's don't need anywhere near that kind of time to fully charge.
I've therefore been using a timer over the last month or two. I turn the power on at the wall socket at 10pm & turn it off at 7am, but instead of it being on all the time, I've got the timer to go on/off on/off throughout the night.
My question is, am I saving any energy? The timer is being powered for the entire duration, but it's only feeding power to my phone 50% of the time.
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My question is, am I saving any energy? The timer is being powered for's the entire duration, but it's only feeding power to my phone 50% of the time.
Likely not, is the answer.
On the timer it should tell you how much energy it consumes. I have some old timers here that consume 4W, so over 24 hours, that's 100W of consumption, which is way more than a phone charger plugged in over night would use.
Thing is too, you're talking about 20-30p a month or so here, so what savings are there to be had realistically?0 -
Here's an article on smart phone energy consumption. Further down the page is a graph comparing them to laptops, PCs, games consoles and TVs, which is where you can make a bigger impact.
Also, anything that "heats" uses a LOT of power.
http://lifehacker.com/5948075/how-much-energy-a-smartphone-uses-in-a-year-and-what-it-means-for-your-budget0 -
Thing is too, you're talking about 20-30p a month or so here, so what savings are there to be had realistically?
never knew it was that low - im one of those who doesn't fully understand how my bills are made up & how much it costs to flush the loo or put the kettle on. few pence a month is nothing so i'll do away with the timer in that case - cheers :T0 -
Most phones stop drawing on the charger when they are charged anyway (or enter top up trickle charge mode), you are probably using more electricity with the timer then just leaving it plugged in.0
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Not 100% sure if this is the right sub-forum so feel free to move if needs be.
Most of us put our phone's on charge "overnight" - for me this is 10pm till 7am, however as we all know, phone's don't need anywhere near that kind of time to fully charge.
I've therefore been using a timer over the last month or two. I turn the power on at the wall socket at 10pm & turn it off at 7am, but instead of it being on all the time, I've got the timer to go on/off on/off throughout the night.
My question is, am I saving any energy? The timer is being powered for the entire duration, but it's only feeding power to my phone 50% of the time.
That doesn't sound like an appropriate charging process. Refer to the manufacturers instructions on how best to charge your phone.
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.... I have some old timers here that consume 4W, ...
Are you sure? That's a heck of a consumption for a timer switch.
How do you know? Did you attempt to measure it with a plug in timer? They are incredably inaccurate at low consumption levels easily +/- 5 W
My timer operates from a rechargeable battery which I guess is about 500-800mWh and it can last all year without being plugged in. The only energy consumption is to recharge that battery as required.
I can't find any reliable information about actual energy consumption for a fully programmable timer (its not mentioned in the manufacturer's instructions as presumably it is so little), however this rather crude switch claims to use a maximum of 0.18W (and I think that's probably on the high side)
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Socket-F7C009q-Energy-Saving/dp/B003P2UMS00 -
Biscuit_Tin wrote: »Are you sure? That's a heck of a consumption for a timer switch.
How do you know?
It's stamped on the case, where it says 220-240V 50Hz. It's an old mechanical timer, so I'm not surprised. I'm sure a new digital timer uses less, but it still won't use less than a mobile phone charger sat idle.0 -
I've just done some Googling and it seems "real" values are 0.5w for a digital timer and 2w for an old mechanical one.
Apple claim their charger draws 0.25w on standby, so there's no saving to be had using a timer - the opposite in fact, whichever type of timer you use.0 -
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Biscuit_Tin wrote: »
I googled (briefly) and that's where I got that amazon link with 0.18W consumption from
Which is a countdown device, not the same as a timer - and it's modern, digital, not mechanical.
Have a read of this thread, which is a discussion on how to redesign & reduce the power consumption of inefficient (but cheap to build) timers: http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19530
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