Remote-Outlet

Monthly Archive: February 2014

Excellent Power Saver

It lacks any sort of archival features such as memory to save results or USB to computer data transfer, but for testing devices one at a time, this is an excellent device. The inclusion of a carbon-footprint mode seems silly, but for those that care about such things, it can be interesting to see. Overall, the product is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to gain insight on their electric bills.

It’s very helpful with something like a space heater or a vaporizer that you want to make sure is off after a certain amount of time. We’ve been using it with our space heater in the bedroom to warm up the bedroom while we’re getting ready for bed and after we go to bed, then it shuts off after we’re asleep. It has a half-hour setting, 3-hour setting, and 6-hour setting. Very handy, except I wish it had an 8-hour setting.

Some efforts have been quite expensive like installing all new heat pump and air conditioners while others have been small and simple such as power strips etc…

When this came up, I decided to give it a try as every little bit adds up. It’s super simple to install..plug it in, plug in the appliance or item, hit a small switch that acts like a timer. That’s all there is to it. It’s a great way to reduce those vampire watts without the headache or hassle of having to always unplug items.

Unfortunately there were two problems we encountered – one is with appliances without a solid memory storage that require reprogramming if shut down entirely. That is NOT the problem of this device but limited the use on some items.

Next, like many households we actually have a LOT of little items that could use this but even at a relatively low price, it would add up significantly to change over. Also, negating a plug was a little problematic in some areas. All in all, a nifty little device that works as advertised and is simple to install.

Most days I notice it, but still worry on the days I don’t look before I leave the house. The Belkin Conserve Socket is a robust timer that can run some heavier loads (such as a hair iron) without issue. In the morning, my wife presses the button on the top of the Conserve Socket and it allows her to power-up her iron and do her thing. When she is done, she shuts it off normally, but if she forgets, we don’t have to worry because the Conserve Socket will kill the power after 30 minutes (a value that you can select) For the money, it was nice because it eliminated a worry of mine and wasn’t too complicated to upset my wife.

February 14, 2014 Outlet, , , , , , 0 Read more >

Keep the Peace with your Teen Daughter

After realizing the adapters are always draining come power, even if not in use, this seemed to be a good device to help conserve some energy. And after my initial use it turned out to be just OK.

The operation is very simple, you set a timer (which has a few preset options, 3 hours being my default), and hit the small start button. The missing thing is, a second press on the button resets the timer, but does not turn it off, as I would have expected to do.

Thus between replacing the power-strip with an intelligent surge protector with auto off timers, and fancy stuff, and converting the old one cheaply, the latter seemed to be a better option. So far, I’m satisfied with its operation.

But make sure you know what you’re getting. There are no custom timer settings, no off button, and there is only a single (large) socket. If you can do with that you’re given this seems to be a nice device.

The only improvement would be if there was a setting somewhere between 30 minutes and 6 hours. Would be nice if you could set it for whatever time limit you wanted. But, it works like a charm and whatever is plugged into it will turn off after the set amount of time expires. Very nice.

It seems that the things he wants left on use ‘very little’ electricity but if I want to leave something on I’m not being responsible because I’m wasting electricity. NOW we have the answers. As long as he believes them :-) This is a very easy product to use. Just plug it in (it is a three plug and must have a grounded socket) and then plug your electrical item in the socket that is part of the unit. You have three options for display: CO2 use for a month or year (that is the CO2 that the electric company will use generating the electricity for this item), monthly or yearly averaged electrical costs (based on a national electricity cost that can be overridden with your own local costs) and the actual wattage being used by the item.

I found it interesting that a cordless phone appears that it is using no electricity until its charge is used and it has to recharge. So far I haven’t found any big surprises but I haven’t tried everything. In regards to trying the TV and some other high use items, it is a little hard sometimes to get to the plug. I guess the big question is this, with so many items staying in standby mode, are we really willing to change our habits and unplug these high frequency items when not in use. I know that many of mine require reprogramming once they’ve lost power so it seems a little unreasonable. But what this will do is make us think about the things that we keep plugged in but don’t use often. Maybe those are things we should unplug when not in use.

The best thing is that now the heated debates are no longer an issue as the evidence of me being right all the time is all that is needed to bring them to a quick demise.

February 13, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

It Did What I Needed It To Do

I didn’t realise it would come with an earth pin attached (yes, stupidly I did not deduce this from the fact that there are three holes in the front). Not the end of the world, though – the hollow earth pin was made of copper so I just cut it off with a hack saw in a couple of minutes. It’s a nice-looking little doover-lacky, and the action of the switch although not exactly crisp is sufficiently robust. No regrets. I’d buy another if I ever needed it.

When the switch is on, you get a dim light reminding you that the switch is on. Turn the switch off and it shuts down the outlet completely. Turning the switch off is essentially the same as pulling the plug out of the socket. You have to decide if the convenience of a switch (vs pulling the plug) is worth the cost of this gadget. Personally, I think the price is kind of high for the limited functionality. Also, the device is kind of big, so it may block 2 outlets (depending on the layout of your socket).

It measures power with 3 significant figures. I tested my laptops, desktops, and other stuff. It shows that desktop computer consume much more energy than laptops. This one give me a reasonable precision power of my stuff. It is good for home use.

Once activated by the start button on top of the timer the, power runs to whatever is plugged in until the set time elapses. Perfect for single uses like a battery charger or portable heater. But, and I’m deducting one star for this, you cannot renew (extend) the timed cycle midway through by pushing the button again. You must wait for the cycle to time out or unplug the timer and restart it. Otherwise, great device for safety and conservation. Doesn’t block the lower plug-in on wall outlets. Made in China, of course.

Plug something into it and it will display how many watts are being sucked out of the wall. Push a button and it will display the dollar cost.

I always wondered how much energy the space heater used. How much energy does the computer use when it is in energy save mode, does the phone charger suck energy when the phone is not plugged in?

I work out of the home and run several computers all of the time. I also have a room full of aquariums. After finding the biggest electricity hogs and changing to using them only when needed I have cut my electric bill down significantly. This unit has fulfilled it’s purpose.

I use it when charging our cell phones so that the battery won’t get ruined by being charged excessively. It elimintes the phantom energy consumption, but I like the idea of having my cell phone battery last longer as well. It is also really handy for a device that didn’t have a switch. Now it does. It would be useful for any heat produciing fire hazard like a curling iron or coffee maker that doesn’t turn itself off.

This thing is well built, can be set for 30 minutes, 3 hours or 6 hours, and can handle any device drawing up to 1800W.

February 12, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Excellent Little Electronic Gizmo

It’s a cool gadget that’s easy to use. It comes preset with regionally-based default energy cost and carbon output values which can be manually changed to match those specified on your energy bill to provide more accurate readings.

The display uses symbols which are both easy to see and understand. The buttons are clearly marked with unmistakable symbols. The unit is made of durable, well-contoured plastic – a nice quality piece.

This product provides useful information to use to influence your energy consumption for the better. It’s a fine item for gadget lovers and would even make a wonderful gift for the green conscientious individual who has everything.

It allows the user to see the impact that their electronic devices have on the environment and their wallets, as well as the watts used to make the device work and the watts used while the device is dormant.

The monitor is very simple to use. Simply plug the monitor into a wall socket and then plug any device that you wish to track into it. The display automatically starts showing you the CO2 output, cost of use, and the watts used. The amounts can be alternated between monthly and yearly numbers. Cost and CO2 output is also averaged after a forty-five minute period.

The device gives excellent and surprising results. I have an oscillating fan that I leave plugged in pretty much year round and I was amazed to see that when it isn’t in use, it costs me $.79 a year just sitting there. When I turn it on, depending on the fan speed, the cost can range anywhere from $29.25 a year to almost $45.

Personally, the CO2 output is cool to see, but the green I’m most interested in saving is the kind that goes into my wallet. With that in mind, I have to say that I do recommend the Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Monitor for the simple fact that it can save you a good bit of money by showing you how much it costs you to leave devices like cellphone chargers, lamps, printers, computers, etc. on when they aren’t in use.

It’s very simple and works every time. I’m actually on here to buy another one for my son to plug an RC car charger in to.

I plugged my coffee pot into this socket and set the socket’s timer for six hours. Now I know that the coffee pot will automatically turn off, even if I have to run to a meeting or leave the office in a hurry. I bought a second on to use in my daughters’ room. They like to have a lamp on so that they can read for a little bit. I set the timer for 30 minutes, and they know that it is time to stop reading when the light goes off. The product is durable, easy to use, and reliable.

February 11, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Innovative for Smart Energy Monitoring

My Gigabyte motherboard and AMD X6 are capable of power conservation and indeed the whole system goes to sleep within an hour of inactivity. With this meter I found that the computer, a 24″ Viewsonic LED monitor and an external hard drive only use 4.1 watts when powered down. It was able to place the display on my computer desk for easy viewing. I set the cost display to $0.10 per kwh so I can see the averaged power usage per month or year. My actual cost per kwh is greater but my utility uses a tiered rate system so a dollar amount may not be valid. My next tests will be on the television and the refrigerator (the socket is rated at 15 amps). One thing that would make this better would be if it could be plugged into a USB port for data acquisition on a computer. But I am still very impressed with the performance of this device.

It is priced similiarly and may have a little better functionality.I like the daily/annual energy cost switch. The fact that it does not have to be viewed at the outlet and has some cord attached to it helps a lot to check the status without moving furniture around. Last but not least it is a pretty pleasant design.

I work on a television program and we demo’d this product for a segment on energy efficient products. I found the Conserve easy to use, easy to understand and a great way to find out how much phantom load you’re appliance is costing you. This was much easier to use than the product we compared it to, the Kill-A-Watt.

It’s ridiculously simple to install and use – flip the switch, plug it in, and plug something into it. It turns off automatically after a set period. It could be really useful for items that don’t turn off automatically – like hair curlers, lights, etc., when you just need a little power.

On the “green” side of things, it’s silly. Supposedly it helps prevent vampire drain from things like cell phone chargers, video game chargers, etc. I’ve got a tester that shows the amount of power things draw – these items don’t draw anything anymore unless something is plugged in. Makes buying this item kind of pointless if you’re doing it to stop vampire power drains.

Overall, it’s a great product, but don’t be duped by the purported green benefits or power savings. They aren’t there.

February 10, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Very Well Thought-out Product

My application required the three-prong feature, or for me to use multiple adapters. The only switches in my local hardware store were two-prong, so this suited my needs. Now, my application is for an overhead lamp in the laundry area of my garage. It has a power cord hanging down from it to plug into a wall AC socket. No switches. This product has an LED light embedded in the switch. Except it ‘lit’ when the switch is on, and dark when the switch is off. This is a bit counter-intuitive for my application – I would rather have the swtich lit when the overhead light is off so I can navigate to it in my darkened or dimly lit (depending on the time of day I do my laundary) garage. But it works the opposite of that.

Electricity cost/kwh can easily be set, and co2/khw can be set as well. Averages tell you the yearly/monthly cost based on duty cycle / historical usage. I read the 1-star reviews and there are some mistakes and misinformation there, however, one legitimate complaint is that it does not give you total KWH used since beginning a measurement. You can back-out the math to easily calculate this based on the yearly cost projection if you know the amount of time spent measuring, but this is a legitimate shortcoming that it can’t simply display the number. Overall however, a VERY well thought out product and still squeaks by to deserve 5-stars.

This is very handy when you have devices that continue to draw power when “off” (like electronics with power bricks and other so-called “vampire” appliances that constantly draw power) or appliances for which you want to have extra assurance that they’re off (e.g., irons). Given that U.S. power outlets down’t have switches, I usually unplug such appliances. This solution is more convenient. It essentially introduces a power switch right at the outlet, cutting power completely to whatever is plugged in when you toggle the switch, without having to unplug the device. It’s like a power strip without the big strip. It’s a relatively low cost and very convenient way to completely cut the power without having to unplug and replug appliances all the time. I sort of wish U.S. electrical outlets were wired with this functionality, as in the rest of the world. In the meantime, this is a relatively cheap and simple solution.

February 9, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >