[fortean]

I've just checked the power consumption for a group of four chargers (2 mobile, 1 iPod and 1 DS) all powered up but not charging anything.

Not charging = 0.02A (4.6W) or £4.32 per year
All charging = 0.07A (16.1W) or £13.82 per year

Got the figures form Electricity Running Cost Calculator from UK Power

I've assumed that 1 unit of electricity is equal to 1KWh

As far as I'm concerned the convenience of them being on all the time is worth the money.

edit: Forgot to say how many hours a month it was used on the form. Costs corrected.

[KoThreads]

They are a pain in my life, I have these plug in chargers/transformers everywhere, I've lost count of them. MP3 players, mobiles, drills, portable hard drives, cordless phones, USB hubs, shavers..........it's endless. I used to unplug them but it's just got plain silly how many there are and sorting out what does what that i just leave them plugged in.

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by KillerOfThreads

..I've lost count of them. MP3 players, mobiles, drills, portable hard drives, cordless phones, USB hubs, shavers.....how many there are and sorting out what does what...

and there's never anything to identify them, they're just bought in bulk and packaged with the devices. When you open it, best to write with permanent marker what it belongs with (no I don't always).

[ad47uk]

Originally Posted by nvingo

and there's never anything to identify them, they're just bought in bulk and packaged with the devices. When you open it, best to write with permanent marker what it belongs with (no I don't always).

I have loads of them and I really should mark them, so I know what they are for.

[Flimber]

Get an upright 10-way mains socket, plug a bunch of these in and label the ends of the cables. Then shove it out of sight somewhere where you can easily turn off all ten at the socket when not in use. Result is no plugging/unplugging and you can see at a glance which plug is for which device. The money saved equals a very nice bottle of wine. Is that not everyone else's standard unit of measurement when considering cost saving measures ?

Mike.

[ad47uk]

Originally Posted by Flimber

Get an upright 10-way mains socket, plug a bunch of these in and label the ends of the cables. Then shove it out of sight somewhere where you can easily turn off all ten at the socket when not in use. Result is no plugging/unplugging and you can see at a glance which plug is for which device. The money saved equals a very nice bottle of wine. Is that not everyone else's standard unit of measurement when considering cost saving measures ?

Mike.

The problem here is I don't want everything that uses these units in the same place. My charger for my video camera and digital camera is upstairs by the desktop computer. My two phone chargers are normally kept in the kitchen, my MP3 player charger is normally kept in the front room.

I don't drink wine and as been said before on here the cost is minimal. I done a test on one of my mobile phone chargers. When plugged in and charging, it takes about 5-6 watts, once the phone is charged, it will go to about 2 watts, then if I disconnect the phone it takes 1 watt. I am not saying all chargers are the same, but I doubt any of them use more than 2 watts when there is no load on them.

My problem and I think this is the problem with a lot of people is having these little units running their printers, speakers, Scanners, even rechargeable mice and no doubt countless more computer bits. I wonder how many people switch all of these off when they have turn off ther computer. I know I don't.

[t72bogie]

not many people switch em off...and with the old linear type it was even worse (the big heavy brick rather than the small light mobile phone type ones) so the State of California banned the old type a couple of years back as they figured out, it would save hundreds of megawatts per year.

This has forced consumer electronic manufacturers to move to the switched type and in the process saving about 1/10th of the standby power of such devices

the next stage is the EU broadband guys are trying to get modem/router manufacturers to have low power modes in their boxes too, to get them down from like 15w to <1w ..as you can imagine, with 12 million broadband users in the Uk alone, it should make quite a difference

anyway, I dont worry personally about the small switched ones being plugged ...but those big old power brick type ones ...well some of those are consuming nearly as much power just plugged into the wall, even without their device charging so make sure to switch the socket off at the mains or unplug those for sure

[fortean]

The X-Box 360 Brick takes 40 Watts whilst it's waiting for you to switch on the console and play something. Wii takes 5 Watts and the PS3 only 2 Watts in standby. (I think the Wii takes 10 Watts if you have Wii Connect 24/7 active).

[ad47uk]

Originally Posted by t72bogie

not many people switch em off...and with the old linear type it was even worse (the big heavy brick rather than the small light mobile phone type ones) so the State of California banned the old type a couple of years back as they figured out, it would save hundreds of megawatts per year.

This has forced consumer electronic manufacturers to move to the switched type and in the process saving about 1/10th of the standby power of such devices

which is fine, but there will still be a lot of the old ones out there.

the next stage is the EU broadband guys are trying to get modem/router manufacturers to have low power modes in their boxes too, to get them down from like 15w to <1w ..as you can imagine, with 12 million broadband users in the Uk alone, it should make quite a difference

Lots of routers out there and lots still in the shops to be sold, so even if they banned routers that have high power, it will take years before it makes much difference. Most routers will last for years, I have a router here that is 7 years old and still works fine if I needed to use it, my speedtouch is 3 years old and works perfect. Routers don't go wrong that often and are only replaced if someone changes ISp and use a the ISP router, like Bt or they want another feature.

The new N routers have not really made a impact, I only know one person that got a Nrouter and that is only because they have just gone wireless. Every one else I know is still using old routers thay have had for a while.

Anyway at the moment I don't think there is any way to get a router to go into a low power mode and then come out of it without some human help.

the new Bt router have some sort of low power, but you still need to press a button to it working in normal mode.

Low power and wireless is not ideal and will not work.
Anyway the E.u can go to hell.

anyway, I dont worry personally about the small switched ones being plugged ...but those big old power brick type ones ...well some of those are consuming nearly as much power just plugged into the wall, even without their device charging so make sure to switch the socket off at the mains or unplug those for sure

The only big power supply I have is for my scanner, all the others are smaller newer types, so they use less power.

But you think all these people who have power supplies plugged in, no matter if it using 1 watt, that can stil create a lot of power. 1,000 people would give you a 1,000 watts and what do that convert to in CO2 emmisions?

How many are using cordless phones in their houses? I have four, just done a test, each charging unit uses 2 watts, no matter if there is a phone in there or not, I am pretty sure that the main unit will use more.

this is what I don't undertsand, we are all slowly being forced to use Low energy bulbs and yet nothing is done about power that is wasted by other means.

[ad47uk]

Originally Posted by fortean

The X-Box 360 Brick takes 40 Watts whilst it's waiting for you to switch on the console and play something. Wii takes 5 Watts and the PS3 only 2 Watts in standby. (I think the Wii takes 10 Watts if you have Wii Connect 24/7 active).

My Wii and PS3 is on standby all the time, I had no idea how much they took, now I know.

[cheekymonkeyme]

Originally Posted by nvingo

and there's never anything to identify them, they're just bought in bulk and packaged with the devices. When you open it, best to write with permanent marker what it belongs with (no I don't always).

Have to say that is a fantastic idea Thankyou I will be doing this

[Major Ingram]

I'm glad I'm not the only one pee'd off with all these pesky chargers!

It's a pet hate of mine seeing them switched on and not charging anything - I'm forever turning them off after the wife & kids leave them on!