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

Don't we have bigger problems to solve?

[Oz0ne]

I agree with reducing energy use/expenditures of our electronic devices... but that needs to be done when they're on.

Standby greatly reduces the draw, and that's it's point. It's not supposed to use no power, just less. If people are concerned by the power they're using, they should turn unecessary their devices off. It really doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

Keyboard lights...

[flyingfsck]

Hmm, also install a wind generator in your chair, so that whenever you fart, the power can be fed back into the grid...