Save yourself £100 on the leccy bill. Unplug some stuff.

[Pickers]

Our LCD TV doesnt have an on/off switch. Its standby or off at the wall, so I've taken to turning it and the V+ box off at the wall at night / during the day. I also try to turn the computer off at the wall (otherwise I would end up leaving the speakers on and monitor on standby). I always try to unplug phone charger and the laptop charger as that gets pretty hot if left in.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Mark

I'm not sure if that was true for very old flourescent tubes (the ones that might flash a few times when you turned them on). I certainly agree it isn't true for energy savers though.

Yes... I was talking about the energy saver ones as I stated

[Will]

Originally Posted by Pickers

Our LCD TV doesnt have an on/off switch. Its standby or off at the wall, so I've taken to turning it and the V+ box off at the wall at night / during the day. I also try to turn the computer off at the wall (otherwise I would end up leaving the speakers on and monitor on standby). I always try to unplug phone charger and the laptop charger as that gets pretty hot if left in.

It should only get hot if it's charging though or under load... surely?

Jonny, I look forward to hearing your results - I'm just going by common sense and basic electronics - but the real world is NEVER EVER like theory.

[Mark]

I've got a meter here too, though I'll need some new batteries for it.

[Pickers]

Originally Posted by Le Hoff

It should only get hot if it's charging though or under load... surely?

Jonny, I look forward to hearing your results - I'm just going by common sense and basic electronics - but the real world is NEVER EVER like theory.

I dunno - Pheebs used to leave it plugged in and plugged into the laptop and it would get pretty warm, even when the laptop was turned off I'm sure.:undecided:

[Dr. Z]

I have a meter thing and I have been testing stuff out.

When everything is on and in use (CPUs at idle) I draw 5A constantly which is a constant 1.2kW 24/7.

With my PCs shut down bar my fileserver, with my TFTs (all 5) turned off but with every charger, router, switch and adapter still left plugged in I draw about .2A which is just under 50W. Not bad really, considering just how much stuff there actually is plugged in down there!

My hifi draws more current than any other item here at just under an amp constantly, more when listening to music and more again when its bassy music - a staggering 250W minimum, constantly on 24/7! If I had to knock one single item off in here to save £100 a year, it would be that

[Jonny69]

Yep all my chargers get warm when they are plugged in, back of the computer is warm, digibox is quite warm.

[Mark]

If it's plugged into the laptop it'll be drawing power for the battery charging circuit, so unplugging in that circumstance isn't a bad thing.

DRZ, what fileserver do you have? .2A is quite low for a non-laptop computer (laptops can easily get that low at idle with the screen off).

[Grandad]

Originally Posted by Jonny69

Kiss my yellow butt
/Homer

I can't, I've turned the lights off

[Dr. Z]

Originally Posted by Mark

If it's plugged into the laptop it'll be drawing power for the battery charging circuit, so unplugging in that circumstance isn't a bad thing.

DRZ, what fileserver do you have? .2A is quite low for a non-laptop computer (laptops can easily get that low at idle with the screen off).

Tis just a celery-based contraption I rigged up on the cheap. My poweredge doesnt draw anything like that at idle!

I was quite suprised too - but I suspect that I had left it idle for so long the drives had spun down, reducing the power consumption considerably. I am also using one of those antec high efficiency PSUs, so maybe that has something to do with it?