!Updated w/ Poll. Vampire Energy - Put them on a power strip for easy on/off

[SlickSnake]

Originally posted by: taltos1
Wow. Thank you for all the replies but I am still a bit in the dark. I understand that there are 2 elements at play here: energy savings AND longevity of the electronics.

Energy Savings:
It seems the "Power Strip" method will save some energy, but perhaps not as much as some are touting.

Longevity of Electronics:
Some say the power strip method is good, other say it is bad. Both sides have made what seem to be valid points (IMHO, I am no electronics guru) but I am still not sure what to do...???

I power strip everything. Except lights and appliances. The biggest risk you will have on electronics is line surge, not lack of continuous current. Yes, the alternating of current is hard on electronics that require a steady current, but the line surges will fry just about anything connected that is not protected somehow. Turning it on or off at the strip versus at the device should make no difference, unless you are operating heavy machinery or high voltage electronics. I turn off my reciever (1500 watts) and 3 powered subs (another 1500 watts) using the Monster power strip plus all the attached components and have not had a problem yet. Of course, the volume is turned down when I do it, not cranked full blast. And the system is not actively operating when I do it. So these are things to consider as well.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake

Originally posted by: taltos1
Wow. Thank you for all the replies but I am still a bit in the dark. I understand that there are 2 elements at play here: energy savings AND longevity of the electronics.

Energy Savings:
It seems the "Power Strip" method will save some energy, but perhaps not as much as some are touting.

Longevity of Electronics:
Some say the power strip method is good, other say it is bad. Both sides have made what seem to be valid points (IMHO, I am no electronics guru) but I am still not sure what to do...???

I power strip everything. Except lights and appliances. The biggest risk you will have on electronics is line surge, not lack of continuous current. Yes, the alternating of current is hard on electronics that require a steady current, but the line surges will fry just about anything connected that is not protected somehow. Turning it on or off at the strip versus at the device should make no difference, unless you are operating heavy machinery or high voltage electronics. I turn off my reciever (1500 watts) and 3 powered subs (another 1500 watts) using the Monster power strip plus all the attached components and have not had a problem yet. Of course, the volume is turned down when I do it, not cranked full blast. And the system is not actively operating when I do it. So these are things to consider as well.

It can make a big difference whether or not you turn a electronic devide off at a power strip vs the device itself. Contrary to what some may think, the power button is not like a power strip. A power strip is connected directly to power. On most advanced consumer electronics devices the power button will connect to a processor. When this button is pushed a "graceful" shutdown will occur. To you it may seem instantaneous but there is always a process to it. When you just flip off the power strip you suddenly remove power from the device, and its forced to shutdown. The motor of a DVD will suddenly stop which could create back EMF if not properly accounted for. Caps in the device may keep some chips on longer while others are no longer operations. It just really isn't good news.

Now most electronics manufacturers take into account "worse case" scenarios where power loss occurs and design their circuits accordingly. However, there are typically some difficiencies and they can be exposed when you subject the device to sudden loss of voltage or suddenly turning on(if it doesn't enter standby out of power loss).

Modelworks was correct when he said that many electronics fail(especially caps) due to thermal cycling. Steady state is much better for a device provided that it meets the thermal conditions of the box.

 

[SlickSnake]

In my case, both front speakers have rocker style power switches not easily accessable in the back of the towers, unless you like bending around a lot. And the power switch is surrounded by other rocker control switches. And the sub is an even worse case where you have to bend down halfway down the sub to reach the power button, all while reaching accross rocker switches and knobs for calibration. Trying to turn them all off or on individualy would be a 5 minute ordeal, easily. And if I change a setting on a sub or speaker accidently, it would take considerably longer then that to fix it.

The receiver I usually do switch off to stand by before shutting down the power, just to be clear. But the DVD player I do not. My H/K dvd player actually has 2 power buttons, and so does both of my H/K receivers. One button switches it off to stand by, and one switches it off completely, so the remote will not wake it.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
Modelworks Said:

Electronics that are poorly designed can wear down over time, mostly due to heat damage.
But leaving something plugged in for long periods of time does not shorten its life span.

Thats just wrong on so many levels, I won't even go there.

Your experience may be different, but I know the internals of consumer electronic power supplies. I designed lots of them when I worked for both RCA and GE.

Most devices that use standby setups do not have power going through most of the unit.

That's what I said. But the power is still running through the power circuit and the voltage regulator that makes it operate, which is why the power circuit failure rates are so high in units that "stand by" when plugged in, like a TV or VCR. The only reason a tube TV stands by when off, is so you don't have to wait a long time to energize the tube. If you are old enough to remember, a tube type TV (one also using tubes) might take 3 to 5 minutes to fully warm up. Leaving a tube operated device on for extended periods will shorten its life span considerably. Those did not stand by for that reason.

This stand by status is not needed for this reason on a newer technology TV though, like LCD. On my LCD Sharp, you can hear the power relay audibly click off after about a minute that it has been turned off. It does not stand by.

This has so many problems I don't know where to start.

First, every tv made in the past 10 years + does not keep the high voltage circuits energized during standby. The reason they are in standby is because they need to receive commands from the IR remote, not so they can come on quickly. It takes less than 2 secs for the high voltage to supply to a crt when the power is switched from the micro. Many crt tv use a relay to switch on power just like your lcd one does. Those that don't use a transistor switch.

Your lcd tv is not using any less power on standby than a crt tv on standby.

Quick info on how standby works on 99% of the consumer devices out there.
The voltage comes in , is converted to dc, and then fed to a 5volt regulator, usually a 7805 variant. That device only uses 5vdc at usually less than 1 amps. So about 5 watts is consumed.

When it gets a signal from the microprocessor, it pulls a transistor high/low and that triggers the main supply to start up. The main supply does not sit there producing current for devices not in use.

If you have had lots of repairs with sets left on standby then I would say its because they were succeptible to power problems in your area and so the more they were plugged in the more damage they received.

 

[taltos1]

Well this has evolved nicely. I added a poll to get better feedback about what people are actually doing. Now let me ask this, what power strips are the best for doing this? Ideally something that does not cost hundreds of dollars? <$100 perhaps?

Thanks