We've seen the awareness campaigns. We know we're supposed to unplug unused electronic appliances, turn off power strips, and only plug cell phone chargers into outlets when we are actually charging. But how many of us really make the effort? And what about the appliances that we can't unplug?
The Madrid based company Good for you, good for the planet claims to have solved the phantom load problem with their 100% off product. GreenSwitch is another company that sells products to combat the vampire...and still be lazy.
Do you guys think these energy saving technologies will become mainstream soon? Where will it take off first, businesses or residential? Or will the majority of people just let it slide for now, and rely on electronic manufacturers to incorporate smarter standby modes into future devices?
Buffy the Vampire Power slayer
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I think both residents and businesses want to save money however they can, but I think businesses have a little bit of an advantage in implementing these energy-saving technologies. First, the commercial construction sector is much quicker to adopt new technologies than the old-school homebuilders, which makes it likely that many commercial buildings will come already equipped with many of the technologies mentioned in your post. Secondly, there seems to be more peer pressure on businesses to go green right now than individuals. We still live in America as you know, and we're not big on limiting our lifestyles. In Europe, you already see many energy-saving technologies in widespread use in residential settings, but that's Europe.
Smart strips and the 100% off idea are great for existing homes. I also think that new homes need to be built with a certain number of all the time outlets and the rest can be cut off with the flip of a switch (or time clock). Or to steal an idea from Mike, a retro-fit of a home's breaker box which takes individual circuits and powers them down based on computer input. The key is to make it where consumers don't have to think about or do anything additional.
Perhaps business owners will get clever and offer some kind of a shared bonus for reducing electricity consumption.
You're right on, Trev. Electrical systems in homes are built with extremely outdated technology and no electronic user interface. That's a low-tech system. We need a modern high-tech interface that's connected to the Internet.
I agree completely Trevor. Whatever the solution to passive power drain, it has to be easy and require little to no maintenance or lazy..er, I mean busy Americans won't go for it.
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