Green Power Saver Store Blog
Take Charge Power Saver wins 2 Awards at National Hardware Show
by Ryan Reclaim on 05/14/12
Take
Charge Power Saver wins 2 Awards at National Hardware Show
(Local
resident Denny Miller’s Take Charge Power Saver invention receives awards)
Bettendorf, IA – The
Take Charge Power Saver, invented by Bettendorf, IA resident Dennis Miller,
captured Best in Class for the New Product World Award and received Honorable
Mention – Best in Class – Housewares from Home Business World at the National
Hardware Show in Las Vegas, NV earlier this month.
The timed charge docking bay (takecharge-us.com)
extends the life of your batteries by shutting off the electricity to chargers
and products after 3 hours, saving consumers an average of $50 per year off
your electric bill.
The Take Charge Power Saver’s are surge protected
and are currently available in 3 models (wall mount, power strip and master
slave units). The Pro Series models, with digital charging from 1 – 4
hours and 20 min trickle features, are scheduled to hit the market in 90 days.
The Take Charge Power Saver is available for
purchase at Hy-Vee located at Devils Glen/Middle Rd., and 53rd/Utica
Ridge, Batteries Plus, K & K Hardware, Paul’s Discount in Clinton/Iowa
City, Home Hardware and All Cell in North Park Mall.
# # #
If you would like more information about this product or to schedule an interview with Dennis Miller, please call Jim Kersten 563/940-4356 or jkers10jr@q.com. Additional products patented/invented by Miller are the Baker’s Band (www.bakersband-us.com) & Disposable Quick Cover (www.carquikcovers.com).
One Month of Your Annual Utility Bill is Spent on Vampire Power Loss
by Ryan Reclaim on 11/21/11
One Month of Your Annual Utility Bill is spent on Vampire Power Loss
Did you know that the typical U.S. family spends about $1,900 a year on home utility bills? Unfortunately, a large portion of that energy is wasted. You can save up to one month of power consumption with a few simple changes outlined in the tips below. You can also help reduce your energy costs and save money every month while reducing vampire power. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and have a positive impact on the planet. Each year, electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars. Even a top-of-the-line, energy-efficient furnace will waste a lot of fuel if the ducts, walls, attic, windows, and doors are not properly sealed and insulated. Taking a whole-house approach to saving energy ensures that dollars you invest to save energy are spent wisely.
According to the Department of Energy,
“vampire energy loss” represents between 5 and 8 percent of a single family
home’s total electricity use per year. On average, that equals one month’s
electricity bill. Taken across the United States, it adds up to at least 68 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—that’s the equivalent output of 37
typical electricity-generating power plants, costing consumers more than $7
billion. The result of all this wasted energy? More than 97 billion pounds of
carbon dioxide seeping into the atmosphere each year. On a global scale,
standby energy accounts for 1 percent of the world’s carbon emissions,
according to Alan Meier of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in
California.
Turn off Your Computer Monitor, Printer and TV in standby mode.
When your computer, plasma TV, or stereo is off, you probably think it is using as little power as possible. Fact is, these devices have high standby power use. What’s more, all of the peripherals connected to your computer — Printer, monitor, USB hub, scanner, DSL/cable modem, etc.—continue to consume “idle current” as well. There may be as many as 20 devices drawing standby power in your home. These include any device with a remote control and external power supply (or adapter), permanently illuminated digital displays and LEDs, and many new larger appliances, such as air conditioners and refrigerators.
Eliminate Standby Power and End Daily Energy Waste
Smart Power Strips are easy to use and fully automatic. The smart power strip pays for itself in as little as 2 to 3 months with a minimal investment. Smart Power Strips also provide surge suppression to protect your electronic devices including PC’s, peripherals and laptops. Save time energy and money by having all of your electronics automatically turn off when you are not at home to use them, help to eliminate Vampire Power and Plug in with a Smart Power Strip today.
Use a Simple Smart Power Strip to Reduce Your Monthly Energy Use
Smart Power Strips are easy to use and fully automatic. The smart power strip pays for itself in as little as 2 to 3 months with a minimal investment. Smart Power Strips also provide surge suppression to protect your electronic devices including PC’s, peripherals and laptops. Save time energy and money by having all of your electronics automatically turn off when you are not at home to use them, help to eliminate Vampire Power and Plug in with a Smart Power Strip today.
Small Changes Make a Big Difference in Savings
Unplugging and making small changes, adds up to lower costs a makes big difference. Making small changes in our everyday lives can make a large impact on the environment. Whether it's bringing your own bag to the grocery store, or pouring your coffee into a mug instead of a paper cup, recycling plastic water bottles, paper and cans or plugging into a smart power strip, we can all make a difference in the future of our planet. Greenpowersaverstore.com is dedicated to providing customers with eco-green friendly products that will reduce our carbon footprint by reducing our energy consumption and best of all save money.
Here are ten tips to eliminating Vampire Standby Power everyday in your home.
- Turn off your computer at night so it runs only
eight hours a day—you’ll reduce your energy use by 810 KWh per year
and net a 67 percent annual savings.
- Use a Kill-A-Watt device to measure your
electronics' power consumption. It can actually be kind of fun (and
definitely enlightening) to run around your house and see how much juice
each piece of equipment takes. You'll likely be surprised.
- Plug your computer into a surge protector with a master
control outlet, which automatically senses when the computer is not in use
and cuts power to it and all your peripherals.
- Purchase flat-screen monitors—they use
significantly less energy and are not as hard on your eyes as CRTs.
- Purchase an Energy Star–compliant computer. Note that
laptop models use much less energy than desk top units.
- Plan your computer-related activities so you
can do them all at once, keeping the computer off at other times.
- Power off your monitor when you are not using it
instead of using screen savers.
- Do not leave the computer running overnight or on
weekends.
- Turn off all printers and peripherals unless you are
using them consider using an ink-jet printer—although a bit slower than
laser printers, inkjets use 80 to 90 percent less energy.
- Forgot the screen saver—it doesn’t save energy or your screen unless you’re using an old monochrome monitor.
How to Kill Energy Vampires
by Ryan Reclaim on 11/16/11
How to Kill Energy Vampires
What is Standby Power and what does it have to do with vampires?
Standby power is the energy used by some products when they are turned off but still plugged into a power/wall outlet. While this standby power sometimes provides useful functions such as remote control, clock displays, and timers, in other cases it is simply wasted power as a result of leaving an electronic device or power adapter plugged in.
The devices causing this waste are referred to as energy vampires because these products are slowing sucking energy from your home while not providing any useful function! In addition to your home office and home electronics equipment, chargers for cell phones, ipods, power tools, etc also suck energy from your home when they are plugged into an outlet, even if they aren't charging.
Is standby power significant enough to worry about?
Yes, the amount of energy used by products when they are in standby mode is significant. The average U.S. household spends $100 per year to power devices while they are off (or in standby mode). On a national basis, standby power accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption and more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.
How can I slay the energy vampires in my house?
- Look for ENERGY STAR when shopping. All ENERGY STAR qualified products are among the lowest power consuming in their category in standby mode.
- Enable the ENERGY STAR power management settings on your computer and monitor, so they go into power save mode when not in use.
- Use a Smart power strip as a central "turn off" point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply. You can use one for your computer and all peripheral equipment, and another for your home electronics (TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, gaming). Keep in mind though that if you've set a timer to wake up a product, such as programming a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to record a program, then the product must remain plugged in (and able to draw standby power) to function as intended.
- Unplug your chargers: cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers or power adapters, etc. These are drawing some amount of energy even when not in use (and even when not connected to an end-use product).
Smart Power Strips are easy to use and fully automatic. The smart power strip pays for itself in as little as 2 to 3 months with a minimal investment. Smart Power Strips also provide surge suppression to protect your electronic devices including PC’s, peripherals and laptops. Save time energy and money by having all of your electronics automatically turn off when you are not at home to use them, help to eliminate Vampire Power and Plug in with a Smart Power Strip today
How Do I Measure the Power Consumption in my Home or Business with a Kill A Watt Power Meter?
by Ryan Reclaim on 11/16/11
How Do I Measure the Power Consumption in my Home or Business with a Kill A Watt Power Meter?
Electricity bills are rising and your home is consuming second hand power or “ Vampire Power” all day long with plugged in electrical devices. Now you can measure power consumption and cut down on costs and find out what appliances are actually worth keeping plugged in. Simply connect these appliances to the Kill A Watt®, and it will assess how efficient they really are. Large LCD display will count consumption by the Killowatt-hour, same as your local utility. You can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, even an entire year. Also check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor. Now you´ll know if it is time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is still saving you money. With the inexpensive Kill A Watt® you´ll know.
The Kill-A-Watt™ Power Consumption Meter is a device that measures the amount of electricity various household electric appliances use.
How does it work?
The device plugs into any standard wall outlet and then “reads” the energy use of the appliance plugged into it. To measure the amount of electricity a certain device uses, plug it into the Kill-A-Watt™. The device will measure kilowatt hours (kWh) used over the period of time. The device will measure energy use in watts and translate that into kilowatt hours (kWh) for you. 1000 watts = 1 kilowatt; a 100 watt device running for 10 hours = 1 kWh. NSTAR bill you (in kilowatt hours (kWh).
Example - Plug in a lamp with a 60 watt bulb to the device and turn it on. Press the button on the device labeled “watts” and the LCD screen should read 60 watts. To track how much energy is consumed over time, press the “kWh” button and toggle to see energy consumed over a time period. If the light were to remain on for 10 hours, the device would read 0.6 kWh consumed. Be sure to record the kilowatts displayed on the device while it is still plugged in. They will disappear when the Kill-A-Watt™ is unplugged. Multiply the kWh by the rate charged on your utility bill to find out how much it costs to keep the device running. When you have identified the devices and appliances that do not need to be kept plugged in, unplug them after each use. Or, plug them into a power strip with an on-off switch and power that off when devices are not in use. You can also replace the standard power strip with a smart power strip that will shut off and eliminate Vampire power.
· Example of an idle device: A standard cell phone consumes about 5 watts when charging and 1 watt when not charging (if the power cord remains plugged in). Over a year, that comes out to 1.8 kWh for charging and 8.3 kWh for the power cord.
· The Kill-A-Watt meter plugs into a power outlet, and then an appliance to be measured plugs into the Kill-A-Watt meter, as illustrated in the photo to the right. The power being consumed is displayed by the meter (59 watts, in the photo to the right).
· The meter can also measure 'power factor' (for appliances containing motors) and energy consumption (kWh).
· A watt (W) is a measure of energy per unit of time (power). 1 watt = 1 joule/second.
· A watt-hour (Wh) is a measure of energy. 1 watt-hour = 3600 watt-seconds = 3600 joules. Electrical energy is billed by the kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The Kill-A-Watt™ Power Consumption Meter is a device that measures the amount of electricity various household electric appliances use
Eliminate Standby Power and End Daily Energy Waste.
Smart Power Strips are easy to use and fully automatic. The smart power strip pays for itself in as little as 2 to 3 months with a minimal investment. Smart Power Strips also provide surge suppression to protect your electronic devices including PC’s, peripherals and laptops. Save time energy and money by having all of your electronics automatically turn off when you are not at home to use them, help to eliminate Vampire Power and Plug in with a Smart Power Strip today.
GreenPowerSaverStore Offers a Power Measurement Product to measure your home’s daily power consumption and help to eliminate Vampire Power Consumption.
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Geek Alerts Review on the Take Charge Power Saver Smart Power Strip
by Ryan Reclaim on 11/14/11
Everyone is trying to save money these days along with striving to be more environmentally friendly. Most of us are doing the obvious things like carpooling, turning the heat down a few degrees, switching out old light bulbs to more efficient CFLs and LEDs, and even cutting back on eating out. But a lot of you are missing out on one easy money saving idea; standby energy loss. I’m sure you have all heard the term “Energy Vampire” before, but it comes as a big surprise as to how many people aren’t doing anything about it. For all us geeks that love our electronics and games, it could mean having enough room in our budget to get that new gadget or Star Wars figure.
As you may or may not know, many electronics products draw power even when they are turned off. This is called standby power, and it can add up to quite a bit of electricity when it comes to big screen TVs, home theater systems, stereos, computers, gaming systems, and other everyday electronics. To get rid of that energy sucking vampire, you need to get yourself a smart power outlet or surge protector that allows you to shut everything down when you aren’t using them. That used to be easier said than done, until now!
GeekAlerts was lucky enough to get our hands on the world’s first wall mounted one-touch smart power outlet with timed charging from Take Charge for this Take Charge PowerSaver Timed Power Outlets Review along with two of their other innovative power strips. Take Charge is based in Iowa and they pride themselves on finding ways to help you save you money and electricity while providing us with eco-friendly energy technology that helps us all live a little greener lifestyle.
With three models to choose from, you will be able to find the timed shutoff strip that works best for your application. First up for us was the Wallmount Timed Charger Docking Bay. This surge protector offers four outlets (three that are on timers and one that is always on), a charge LED indicator light, a surge LED indicator light, a start button for the 3 timed outlets, and a reset button for the circuit breaker. We found this this outlet to be perfect for the bedroom or areas that had permanent traffic.
PowerSaver wallmount with 3 hour timed charger docking bay and 4 outlets allows you to keep your devise plugged in without draining vampire power with 3 timer controlled outlets and one “always on” outlet. Not only does the PowerSaver extend the life of your battery by not overcharging, but also saves enough electricity, it will pay for itself in less than a year.
Set up was simple and it fit nicely into the wall socket next to my bed. This outlet is perfect for cell phones, smartphones, laptops, iPads, and all those other electronics you find in and around your bed. After you are done sending your last message and reading your last article on GeekAlerts, simply plug your device into one of the three timed outlets. This does three very important things for you. One, it makes sure that you device is charged come the morning time when you will need to use it again. Two, it saves you money by stopping vampire electricity use throughout the night. And three, it protects your very expensive (and in some cases, Apple ?_?) irreplaceable rechargeable batteries from harmful over charging or electrical surges.
Did you know that a study done by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that electronic devices currently account for over 20% of household energy consumption today? Think of all the money you could be saving if you had an outlet that remembers to shut off the electricity for you. Sadly I know after a long day of work, even I forget to turn off things and unplug things. Instead of wasting all that time running around and trying to figure out what needs to be off or left on, just spend a little time plugging all your electronics into one of these Take Charge power strips and let them do the work from here on out.
When you want it on, simply hit the start button and the electricity will start to flow. After three hours, Take Charge will do just that and shut it down for you…if you are still using the outlet, just hit the start button again to reset the clock for another 3 hours. These outlets are perfect for forgetful kids and us adults that seem to be always running around doing something.
The Smartstrip Surge Protector is slightly different than the other two models. It has 8 power-managed outlets; of the 8, two are always on outlets and one is a master outlet that controls the additional five controlled outlets eliminating standby electricity usage. This is perfect for computer workstations, small offices, or home entertainment systems. Simply plug in the master device, such as your TV or computer into the “master outlet” and plug the other supporting devices (printers, surround sound, PS3, etc.) into the “controlled outlets.” Once you power off the device that is plugged into the “master outlet”, the rest of your devices in the in the controlled outlets will power off. This saves a lot of time when you are done watching that movie and are ready for bed.
If saving money and being green sounds like a positive thing to you, GeekAlerts recommends that you take a look at the Take Charge power saving outlets. Loaded with features and backed by a $50,000 quality assurance protection plan, these affordably priced timed outlets would make a great Christmas gift this holiday season. With several styles and designs to choose from, you will be able to find the power saver that best fits your needs.
Personally, I found the Smartstrip Surge Protector with its master control outlet, 5 controlled outlets, and two always on outlets, perfect for my entertainment system. I was able to plug in my TV into the control outlet, while my home theater system, PS3, and Wii went into the timed outlets. All I need to do is turn off the TV and everything else follows suit automatically…I did leave my router and modem in the always on outlets for the simple reason that someone is always online in my house.
If you want to learn more go to Take Charge, where you can purchase these ecofriendly power stripes starting at only $19.95.
