SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
We've previously covered how standby mode in game consoles suck. Well, it seems like many devices across the US are sucking a whole lot of power--$19 Billion/yr worth. That is just the US estimation, it is not extrapolated out across the globe.
Approximately $19 billion worth of electricity, equal to the output of 50 large power plants, is devoured annually by U.S. household electronics, appliances, and other equipment when consumers are not actively using them, according to a ground breaking study released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The report, "Home Idle Load: Devices Wasting Huge Amounts of Electricity When Not in Active Use," found most of the devices either plugged in or hard-wired into America's homes consume electricity around-the-clock, even when the owners are not using them or think they are turned off. The annual cost for this vampire energy drain, which provides little benefit to consumers, ranges from $165 per U.S. household on average to as high as $440 under some utilities' top-tier rates.
"One reason for such high idle energy levels is that many previously purely mechanical devices have gone digital: Appliances like washers, dryers, and fridges now have displays, electronic controls, and increasingly even Internet connectivity, for example," says Pierre Delforge, the report's author and NRDC's director of high-tech sector energy efficiency. "In many cases, they are using far more electricity than necessary."
(Score: 2, Informative) by Geezer on Friday May 08 2015, @04:39PM
All the whiz-bang gadgets happily blinking their LED's and chatting away on your wireless router proudly sporting their official "Energy Star" rating decals.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Friday May 08 2015, @04:42PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @04:45PM
Woooooosssssshhhhhhhh.....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @04:47PM
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @05:08PM
It is if you're too stupid to realize that the "something" they're doing is in itself a waste of energy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @07:56PM
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday May 09 2015, @06:30AM
I'll wager you're a fucking blast at a party.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @09:00PM
As it was explained to me when I was young and "clever": if you have to explain it then it's not funny.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday May 08 2015, @05:27PM
Buy more efficient appliances, electronics, and miscellaneous devices, such as those labeled ENERGY STAR™, whether replacing old models or purchasing new ones;
That's in the source article's call to action. What is the opposite of ironic?
(Score: 4, Funny) by GungnirSniper on Friday May 08 2015, @05:38PM
Rain on your wedding day? A free ride when you've already paid?
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @09:03PM
Buy more stuff ... that takes a shit-ton more power/electricity/whatever to manufacture than it will ever save you compared to your existing devices.
Hmm ... that sure does sound more "green" (green as in cash).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2015, @08:39AM
This is very much true. Better advice would be think before you buy.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Friday May 08 2015, @06:00PM
That would be true if what they were chatting wasn't just "I'm still here!" over and over again.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Friday May 08 2015, @07:48PM
Here's something I'm guilty of right now. The Playstation 4 takes a while to boot up. Because of that the system has a low-power standby mode, when you pick up the controller it only takes a few seconds to get to starting a game. My spare time is valuable so spending less time staring at the Sony logo is better for me. But here's the thing: I've been busy at work. I haven't picked up my PS4 controller in two months. For two months it's been sitting there in standby eating electricity. Is that Sony's fault? Welp, I'm the one paying the electric bill and I say "Nope, I'm the idiot." I see that yellow light. I know that thing wakes up every so often to download software updates. I know there's at least a certain amount of power it eats. I know that I don't have time to mess with it until this project is over. In fact, if I don't turn that off tonight when I get home there are no nice words to describe me. Sony's off the hook.
If I cannot find a way to make myself a victim here then I cannot see the irony. Sorry.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mojo chan on Saturday May 09 2015, @11:25AM
My Windows 8 laptop can boot from cold to login screen in under 4 seconds. Sony should be able to do better with a fixed hardware platform and custom OS build.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2015, @11:47AM
All those rootkits bog them down bro.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday May 09 2015, @03:53PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Saturday May 09 2015, @08:27AM
An ironic situation would be "I know X, I want to communicate X, I say ~X"
A cynical one would be "I know X, I want to communicate ~X, I say ~X"
Otherwise known as a "lie", which is sometimes called "the truth" by those in marketting and politics.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Anne Nonymous on Friday May 08 2015, @06:09PM
How many amps do a few blinky LEDs use? 20mA x 10% duty each?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday May 08 2015, @08:21PM
It's not so much the LEDs as the other parts still running.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @10:10PM
OS was complaining about der blinkenlights
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday May 09 2015, @08:58AM
Mobile phones have been doing this for ages.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by mojo chan on Saturday May 09 2015, @11:33AM
Sure, but how are you going to power that? You need to take 100-240V 50/60Hz AC (universal power supply) and turn it into 3.3v. Well, more likely you need at least 12v and 3.3v for the system, and anywhere from a few milliwatts to say 300W depending on the load. And it has to be cheap.
It's not easy to get super low standby power from s PSU.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday May 09 2015, @11:39PM
Erm, nope. There's plenty of electronics that works on lower voltages than that. Didn't I already mention mobile phones?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday May 09 2015, @05:51PM
Sure, they could do that. The point is that they typically don't for devices that are plugged in.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday May 09 2015, @11:36PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday May 10 2015, @01:44PM
Mine says it's right.
Perhaps YOU actually care about such details, buty the many devices that continue to emit significant heat when they are turned "off" suggest you are not in a majority.