Spent $60 on a "smart" power strip that did nothing useful

Bought one of those smart power strips from Best Buy last month thinking it'd save me money by turning off devices automatically. Turns out my TV and PC already use less than a dollar in standby power per year combined. Has anyone else fallen for these energy saving gadgets that don't actually save much?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_fox724d ago

Grayh60 has a point about cable boxes, those things are energy hogs for sure. But actually, the newer ones mandated by the feds in 2020 or so have to use way less power in standby, so a lot of people won't see those big numbers anymore. The real kicker with the smart strip is that most TVs and computers these days go into a super low power mode when you turn them off, so the strip just cuts a trickle that's already barely a trickle. Plus a lot of smart strips themselves draw a little power just to stay on and listen for your commands, so they might actually cancel out the tiny savings. You'd be better off just unplugging a few wall warts if you're really worried, or just forget about it since it's probably less than a fast food combo per year.

grayh604d ago

I gotta push back a little on that standby power claim. In my experience, older TVs and especially cable boxes can pull way more than a dollar a year, some older models eat up $10-$20 easy just sitting there.