Switch panels

[Richard Bustens]

Yes but there is in the TV and Computers etc and we dont switch them off, i always switch off the screen on the comp but never the unit.

[DHutch]

But does that make it right?

- Plus computers etc are reativly low current.

- If there was a short of 12v/5v/3.3v rails the psu would just trip out stright way.

 

- And also, the have being know to catch fire, like cars.

 

 

Daniel

[Richard Bustens]

Not saying that it does not happen but in my experance it is the screens that catch fire not the unit,

 

with the heater it will have a fuse in the line and that should blow if anything goes wrong, or do we start turning the master switch off when we go to bed or leave the boat for a few hours to go shopping.

[John Orentas]

I only turn the isolators off when I leave the boat in the marina, never when I just leave the boat for a few hours. I have a next door neighbour who I can hear unplug his tv set every night, and he is an electrician. Strange how people get into these odd illogical habits. Have you seen that sort of advert saying something like if we all unplugged our TV sets instead of leaving them on standby we would save half a power station or something equally ridiculous.

 

Who had the authority to make that silly advert, who checks on them, how do they get jobs like that presumably with not the slightest technical knowledge. There was a chap in my pub who would not leave his power on for a week when he went on holiday because his doorbell transformer would be running up his electricity bill, but he did not have a 60K job with the BBC.

[Paul Evans]

I think you should be a bit less grumpy about suggestions that we could save electricity and fossil fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by switching appliances off. There is plenty of research to show that this is the case. Just a couple of quotes from sources on the Internet:

 

"One million tons of a damaging greenhouse gas is pumped into the atmosphere each year by televisions, DVD players and other appliances left on standby in British living rooms. Gadgets apparently turned off, but with their standby lights illuminated, are a little-recognised but significant contributor to global warming. Each year they waste enough electricity to power a city the size of Birmingham for a year or keep Britain's street lights burning for four years, and are a major contributor to the emissions which are polluting the atmosphere. Millions of "sleeping" video recorders, set-top boxes, washing machines and radios in homes and offices accounted for one million tons of carbon emissions, approaching 1 per cent of the nation's total.

Up to 85 per cent of the power used by an average video recorder is consumed while it is not in use, while many appliances use as much power on standby as they do when they are turned on."

 

"The average household could save somewhere in the region of £10 - £80 by switching appliances off rather than leaving them on standby. The average saving is estimated at £25, although a typical three bedroom flat could save about £37 through these changes."

 

I don't claim to be perfect - televisions, video recorders, digibox - all left on standby at home! Tut, tut!

[John Orentas]

Paul.

 

Where on earth do you get these figures from. I know you are sincere in your outlook on life but if you grossly over-state your case in this way people are not going to take you seriously.

 

How about this for a statistic, an aluminium smelting plant and there are several in this country uses as enough electricity in one hour to power every electronic standby in the country for a thousand years.

 

Yes mine is a bit of a guess but I would bet it is a lot closer than yours. How much aluminium do you have in your house / car / boat.

[dor]

I think we should try adding up the number of items in our houses and add up the watts each use on standby. Multiply that by, say 20 hours average they are not in use. Now multiply by something around 20 million homes. Add in all the computers and copiers etc that are left in offices on standby.

 

I suspect the figure is nearer Paul's than John's. Just a guess of course.

[rayman]

A tv uses about 70% of it's total use whilst in standby. do a bit of home work and you'll find it's true.

[david and julie]

We should be putting the blame where it truly belongs, the manufacturers. As long as you loose memories/settings, etc, when unplugging, people will continue to leave them on.

 

One only has to go into most public buildings if one wants to look for real energy waste. Even in mild weather or bright sunshine they are usually ablaze with light and excessively heated too.

[John Orentas]

A tv uses about 70% of it's total use whilst in standby. do a bit of home work and you'll find it's true.

 

 

 

Some of you obviously read different books to me, different mathematics and physics too.

[Amicus]

There's a Gummint office block near hear, Social Security, dole office etc. plain ole office block. It’s illuminated externally, flood lights, all night, every night. Wass that about then?

[Paul Evans]

Where on earth do you get these figures from. I know you are sincere in your outlook on life but if you grossly over-state your case in this way people are not going to take you seriously.

From articles on the Internet, is the answer to your question. Here is one Stand By

 

The fact is that appliances left on standby consume power. The amount for each appliance may be very small but how many appliances do we have? I count 9 in my home. How many homes in the UK? Taking the average consumption from the link (60W) and say 15 million homes and we are looking at 7,884 million kW/hours each year. By any meaure that's a lot of power.

Edited October 11, 2005 by Paul Evans