Electrical Power Strips That Save You Money

Did you know that most electrical appliances utilize electricity when they aren't even doing anything? You probably don't think about it, but just about any room in your home has some electrical contraption that is burning electricity just so it can be ready to come on when you flip its switch.

 

 

Your television set probably has several electronic items plugged into it. Things like a DVD player, surround sound receiver, a set top cable box, and maybe even a VCR; and they all use power. Those lighted dials, clocks, and other things use a little juice, but the big user is generally behind the scenes.

 

This is the price we pay for conveniences. When we push the button on the DVD player, we want it to come on immediately, so it sits there continuously cycling and polling to see if we need it. It does this all night while we are in the bed asleep.

 

The same is true of other digital appliances, not just those associated with the television. The peripherals of your computer are the same kind of power wasters. A printer might not be used for weeks, but it stays at the ready waiting for documents to be sent.

 

Some appliances should be set to spring into action when needed. If you have a recording device attached to your receiver, it has to be ready to come on at the designated time. The same is not true of a device that you might use only once a month, but how do you tell the little used appliance that it should just stay off until you ask for its services other than powering it down?

 

 

It is always a good practice to use circuit breaker power strips for your electrical appliances, but those designated as smart power strips do more than just guard against electrical spikes. Advanced circuitry allows the smart strip to listen to or sense what appliances are using demand electricity and which ones are soliciting the electricity themselves.

 

For this reason, the strip shuts down the appliances plugged into the designated part of the strip to conserve energy. The minute you ask one of these appliances to "do something," the strip allows the current to flow to them again.

 

All you have to do is make sure you plug any appliance that you want to remain on all the time into the circuits that are not monitored by the "brain" of the power strip. Another good thing about the smart strip is it doesn't cost any more than most other standard power strips, allowing you to save both money and energy.