Power saving invention - what happened?

mute_posting

moonrakerz wrote: »

and I've got fairies at the bottom of my garden !

Hey, I'm just the messenger - only providing a link somebody asked for.

It sounds like an interesting concept though (I described it wrong above, just read the pdf and power isn't cut off per se, the switching points are changed)

Normally the switching temperatures are constant,
but under dynamic demand control, Thigh and

Tlow, are continually modi¯ed according to the
current grid frequency. If the frequency is high (i.e.
there is too much generation) then the switching
temperatures are lowered, and vice-versa.
The result is that at times of power shortage (low
frequency) a dynamic demand appliance is more
likely to be o®. With many such appliances on
the grid, the collective behaviour has been predicted
by simulation studies to resist changes in frequency,
hence providing stability to the grid. As frequency
falls, for example, the switching temperatures will
rise. This will cause a progressive shedding of load
as the appliances begin switching o® early (starting
with the coolest ¯rst) and will help prevent the
frequency-fall.

MP

barrymung

dazzer21 wrote: »

A while ago on Dragons Den, there was what I thought was a phenomenal invention that I haven't heard anything of since. It was a plug/switch which completely wiped out the need for any appliances (TV etc) to be left on standby overnight. It enabled said device to be switched back on by using a remote (after all, who presses an on-off button on the front of a telly these days?!) from being in stasis, using no electricity whatsoever.

It was brilliant - if all the manufacturers adopted it as a standard feature, it would wipe out global warming overnight (OK, slight exaggeration, but you can see the benefits of it!)

Anyone heard of its existence ever since?

I'm pretty sure that it later transpired that they didn't have a patent on the device and thus the deal fell apart.

Also, the claim that it used "zero power" during standby wasn't strictly true.

The device had a rechargeable battery in it, that "stole" power from the mains while the unit was on. Whilst in standby the unit would use the power stored in the battery.

Yes, it didn't draw power from the mains while off, but only because it used extra power when switched on!

Ronaldo7_2

But surely the easiest way is to turn appliances off at the switch? Then no power is used in standby! Take a look at an energy meter that can help you determine high standby power users in your home ....

Fire_Fox

Ronaldo7 wrote: »

But surely the easiest way is to turn appliances off at the switch? Then no power is used in standby! Take a look at an energy meter that can help you determine high standby power users in your home ....

Not easy if you have young kids/ partners who don't understand, or sockets behind furniture!

Cardew

This fixation people have about standby consumption is counter-productive.

Post after post on MSE from people complaining about huge electric bills has the plaintive cry 'I never leave my TV etc on standby'

The standby consumption of most newish TVs left on standby 24/7 is less than £1 a year.
Most modern appliances use small amounts on standby - the exception being a Sky box which can use about £12 a year(and most of us need it to record)

Turn things off by all means, but get the savings in perspective. You can save a lot more by just boiling in a kettle the amount of water you need.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Let's think...average 3 bed house, TV in living room, kitchen and 3 bedrooms. £5pa
DVD in 4 rooms. £4. Cable box/freeview box in each. £5. Nintendo Wii. £1. PS2 £1. 2 Nintendo DSs charging/charger left plugged in £2?. 2 mobile phones £2?. 2 PCs, monitors, modem, wireless router, 1 laptop on charge. £7?

That's pretty much a month's electricity for me.

Cardew

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Let's think...average 3 bed house, TV in living room, kitchen and 3 bedrooms. £5pa
DVD in 4 rooms. £4. Cable box/freeview box in each. £5. Nintendo Wii. £1. PS2 £1. 2 Nintendo DSs charging/charger left plugged in £2?. 2 mobile phones £2?. 2 PCs, monitors, modem, wireless router, 1 laptop on charge. £7?

That's pretty much a month's electricity for me.

Nobody is advocating that you leave everything on standby 24/7, that is as silly as buying one of these 'power savers'(which themselves use power) for every room in the house.

Like many houses the power point for my main TV is not accessible without moving furniture. This TV uses 0.6 watts on standby.

So left on 24/7 it uses about 50p a year. Now as the TV is obviously in use some of the time, and it is turned off when we are on holiday etc, the real cost is probably about 25p a year. To save me moving furniture a couple of hundred times!!!!