Gadgets add hundreds of dollars a year to electricity bills

[depakid]

An Aussie story, but the same holds true in America, where it's often difficult to determine what the comparative enegy usage is for competing products is.
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ENERGY-GUZZLING gadgets are costing households hundreds of dollars a year, yet most people have little idea of the cost.

While energy-rating labels have been mandatory for whitegoods since the late 1980s, computing goods remain immune.

Some, such as a Sony PlayStation 3, cost five times as much to run as an average-sized refrigerator. That translates to about $250 a year, said Christopher Zinn, spokesman for the consumer group Choice, which has conducted tests on 16 popular computer gadgets.

While a PlayStation was unlikely to be left on and idle permanently, Mr Zinn conceded, even a standard personal computer, an item invariably left on while not in use (on active standby) could be almost three times more expensive to run than the average refrigerator.

A combination of desktop computer, LCD monitor, wireless router, plasma TV and DVD player on continuous active standby could add $450 a year to the power bill.

"The figures are indicative of just how much electricity these small devices can chew their way through," Mr Zinn said.

Choice says the absence of a star-rating labelling system means consumers are unable to make informed decisions when buying electronic goods. It also means manufacturers have little incentive to improve energy efficiency.

In contrast, refrigerators have improved in energy efficiency by 4.6 per cent each year since 1993, with manufacturers phasing out poor energy performers.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/news/energy-smart/gadgets-add-hundreds-to-electricity-bills/2008/06/03/1212258826325.html

[WheelWalker]

1. k&r

[FredStembottom]

2. Let me be the 1st to say:

Power strips!

Put them wall-warts (and yes the 'puter, monitor, DSL router etc. too) onto power strips. Switch off when not home. This totally cuts them off the electricity. Just re-start when you get home - if you have lots o' memory in your computer, this can even be a bearably quick process (except with Windows Vista which really throws a wrench into this idea, I admit).

However, you don't want to power strip any TV or radio that holds it's tuning in memory. You'll switch back on and find that the TV no longer knows how to tune anything in! And running that 10 minute long Tuning Search thing every time is just not reasonable.

Everything else? Yes. Power strip 'em and save.

[Javaman]

3. Man, does that mean I have to give up my glowing nose hair clipper????? nt

[ArbustoBuster]

4. You have glowing nose hair?

A small photoelectric cell inside your nasal cavity should generate enough electricity to power the clipper, just from the light of the nose hairs themselves!

On a more serious note: Putting things like computers on power strips, like FredStembottom said above, is a great idea. It works wonders.

[Javaman]

5. oh I know, I'm just snarky. I have put in the power strips through out my house...

the next thing I want to get is one of those power monitors. They plug into a regular electrical socket but give you real time reading as to how much power the house is using. Really cool.