I am constantly irritated by the modern fad to have electronic products that don’t turn off properly. No longer is a machine “on” or “off” it seems. Instead a machine is either “on” or on “standby”. I know red LED lights don’t use much power, but at the same time they don’t run on zero power. This standby phenomenon is symptomatic of the lazy, instant access society we have created for ourselves. We worry it might take too long to turn something fully on so we have invented “standby” so our TV, stereo, computer, DVD player etc. can be powered up instantly. It presumably makes us feel more in control. This sense of control is costing you money.
The Smart Strip LCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Auto Switching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection is the answer to my growing sense of irritation with living in a house that has multiple red lights perpetually lighting up the darkness. This is a really good green idea that only costs $29.91. Like all the other products promoted on this site, it will soon pay for itself.
There is quite a bit of jargon involved with this product and so I will spare you all the technical language and just tell you plainly what it does. Basically, as you can see from the picture it is a power strip. There are 10 plug holes all together. 6 are colored white, 3 red and 1 blue. The blue outlet is the master socket. When you turn off the device connected to the blue socket all the other devices plugged into the white sockets also automatically turn off and I mean “off” not “standby”. It cunningly over-rides an electrical equipment’s desire to go into standby mode by denying that red LED any electricity. The appliances plugged into the red sockets stay permanently connected. This is useful to keep the phone lines and the modem always working.
There are two basic ways to set up the smart strip. One is what I call the ‘office’ setting. This is where the PC or laptop is plugged into the master blue socket. So when you power down your computer at the end of the working day the speakers, lights, mouse, printer, photocopier etc. also turn themselves off at the same time. This allows you to get out of the office quicker and reduce your office electricity bills. The other setting I call ‘home’. In this setting the blue socket appliance is the TV. When you switch the TV off then you also really switch off the play station, the stereo, the hot carpet and the DVD player. If you are honest with yourself then you will see that the TV is always the last thing off before you go to bed. With the Smart Strip it is the only thing you need to turn off before you go to bed. The rest is done for you automatically. So you can can start the process of getting ready for sleep sooner and not worry you have left something on. If you really want to record that late night horror that is past your bed time then simply move the DVD recorder to a red socket.
Finally the smart strip comes with a built-in Modem/Coaxial Surge protector. This means that if there is a sudden increase in power then your appliances are protected from damage by a fuse. It’s like a breaker. The connection is broken if the power input is a threat to your equipment. To buy a surge protector alone would cost you the same as buying a Smart Strip LCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Auto Switching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection.
So kill the red LED lights and save money the easy way by using a Smart Strip.
