The True Cost of Standby Power

Luther19 writes, "How much do all of our computers and electronic devices sitting in standby mode cost us? The author of the article concludes that he could save $24.44 per year by switching out wasteful power supplies. The article also touches on a global initiative to cut down on standby power, called '1-Watt': 'The idea has been promoted by the IEA, which first developed an international 1-Watt plan back in 1999. Countries like Australia and Korea have signed on officially, while countries like the US require 1-Watt in government procurement, which will have ripple effects throughout the economy. The goal of the program is to have standby power usage fall below 1W in all products by 2010.'" It's estimated that in industrialized countries, devices on standby consume on average 4% of the power used.

Comments

Re:Instead of Standby

[jfengel]

Yeah, it's a joke. Specifically, it's from So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish. That's the fourth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It's really not the best book in the series, but you really should read the first one (at least enough of it to know if you like the style of humor or not). It's kind of required reading for Slashdot. From the book:

Ford flipped the switch which he saw was now marked 'Mode Execute Ready' instead of the now old-fashioned 'Access Standby' which had so long ago replaced the appallingly stone-aged 'Off'.

Obeying the laws of thermodynamics

[camperdave]

From the article: Over the course of a device's lifetime, the cost of all that standby power can actually exceed the cost of having the device on.

So, using full power costs less than by using standby? I suppose I can cool down the kitchen by leaving the fridge door open, too? Maybe I should leave the hot water running to cut down on my power bill?