Bye Bye Standby

[Chris Gohlke]

<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1215809298.usr10.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Over the last couple of years, we have really been working to reduce our electric consumption with the hopes of eventually having solar panels installed. We&rsquo;ve succeeded in reducing our electric usage by about 1/3. There were a few big things we did, like not using a dryer anymore and using compact florescent bulbs throughout the house. However, there are lots of little things that also add up and the so-called phantom power draw becomes really evident if you use a <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/digitalhomethoughts-20/detail/B00009MDBU/102-9713213-4288165">Kill-A-Watt</a> [Affiliate] to start measuring the load. Last year <a href="http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/31207/smart-power-strips.html">I reviewed the SmartHomeUSA's Smart Strip Power Strips</a> which was a great way to automatically cut power to many of your power-sucking peripherals when your computer is off. You could of course achieve similar results by simply manually flipping the switch on your surge protector, but sometimes your surge protector is not placed such that this is easy to do, like on many home theater systems. So today, we are going to look at an alternative solution, called <a href="http://www.byebyestandby.com/">Bye Bye Standby</a> which, in a nutshell, adds a remote control to your power strip. <MORE /></p><p>I&rsquo;ve got the following components in my home entertainment system: 65&rdquo; rear projector TV, Xbox 360 (with HD-DVD attachment), PS2, Wii, Motorola Digital Cable Box, and a Sony Amp. According to my Kill-A-Watt, my current home entertainment system draws 45 watts when everything is shut down. I&rsquo;d say on average, the system is used 4 hours a day, so I&rsquo;m wasting 45 watts for 20 hours, or 900 watt hours per day or about 4% of my average household consumption. Based on my current electric rates, this is about $4 per month.</p><p>So, lets take a look at what you get when you purchase a Bye Bye Standby. The package comes with two outlets. As you can see, they are pretty large, so are only realistically usable in the bottom outlet since otherwise they would block it anyway. When used in the bottom outlet, the top outlet is still usable. There is an LED light on the front to indicate whether the outlet is on or not. The most notable feature is the dial on the back allowing you to set the outlet to 1 of 12 different frequencies, grouped as follows A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, etc.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1217454018.usr10.jpg" border="1" /><br /><em>Figure 1: Back of the outlet</em></p><p>I really like the fact that you have the option to set up to twelve separately controllable outlets. This is probably more than most people ever would need, but I could easily see breaking my gaming consoles onto a separate outlet since they are only used for a few hours each week. I'd even consider adding a few extra outlets to control lighting as well as other appliances by remote. My biggest issue is that I would really like to see them add a rotating outlet, or make the two outlets in the package the mirror image of each other vertically so that I could use a pair in the same outlet.</p><p>The other item you get is a single remote. The front has three sets of discrete on and off buttons for each of the items you set as 1, 2, or 3 on the outlet. The back of the remote has a four-position switch for A through D. So, if you were using three outlets to control various parts of your home entertainment system, you might set them up as A1, A2, and A3. Then if you set the remote to A, you can control all three sets of outlets. You might set another room as B and then you'd just need to flip the switch on the back to change what you are controlling.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1217454032.usr10.jpg" border="1" /><em>Figure 2: Front of the Remote</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1217454024.usr10.jpg" border="1" /><em>Figure 3: Back of the Remote</em></p><p>Obviously, infrared is not going to work for this type of remote since you probably don't have line of site to the outlet, so the remote uses radio frequency (RF) instead. It runs on a single CR2032 battery which I imagine will last quite a while since you are probably not using it more than a few times a day. My only minor issue with the remote is aesthetics. Off-white, pink, and green are not usually colors associated with tech products. Your standard black and grey would certainly be a better match with other remotes, but, on the plus side, it does stand out when you are looking for it.</p><p>This is a really simple product and it does exactly what it is supposed to. The best part is that it should easily pay for itself many times over. <a href="http://www.ordertree.com/byebyestandby">You can purchase Bye Bye Standby directly for $24.99</a>.</p><p><em>Chris Gohlke is a Contributing Editor for Digital Home Thoughts. He loves poker, RPGs, and Sci-Fi and loves to get his hands on real-life tech gadgets. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, USA with his wife and three cats.</em></p>

[plasticbiker]

So this is basicly an X10 clone. The device itself draws power all the time in order to power the RF receiver. Have you run Kill-A-Watt on the device by itself. I would be curious to see how it measures up to X10 devices.

Personally, I just use the on/off switch on the power strip if I'm going to be gone for a long time.

[ddhsoftware]

Doesn't this product seem counter to it's inherit benefit though? After all, now the surge strip is going to be drawing standby power as it's receiver waits for an RF signal. Since you are placing them all around, it seems each one would draw power. If you really have access to the Kill-a-watt product, try to see what kind of draw the receiver/outlets have and see if they are marginally better than the products you plug into them.

[santiagonj]

I understand unplugging your electronics or switching off the surge protector when you're not using them saves you money. However, what happens to your settings when the power is unplugged? Do you lose your settings? I take time to set the values on my tv and receiver to my preference and if those values get lost every time I unplug them, then unless the savings are substantial (at least $50 a year), I'm not gonna buy into this. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to cut the fat and save money. But there's a point where it's too much hassle and for me that point is when I have to adjust settings on my tv, dvd, receiver, etc every time. So the question is, does using Bye Bye Standby or turning off your surge protector result in this consequence, or do appliances normally have some kind of memory, b/c I don't think they do. Let me know

thanks

[Chris Gohlke]

plasticbiker, ddhsoftware, and santiagoni

Right now I have it set up as wall outlet, kill-a-watt, bye-bye standbye, powerstrip, and then all the devices listed in my review. By itself, bye bye standbye is showing a 0 watt draw, meaning it is somewhere between 0 and 1. All the devices by themselves draw 44 watts when plugged in but not turned on.

I used to do the same as plasticbiker and turn the power strip off when I was gone for a long perior (meaning multiple days). Often powerstrips are not positioned to be easily turned on and off. Using the remote, we started turning everything off from when we went to bed until we got home from work the next day, cutting about 20 hours of 44 watt draw.

So yes, there is still a minimal draw, but I think the convenience will allow you to turn it off more often than you otherwise would, thereby more than making up the difference.

santiagoni

None of my devices are losing any settings, but I am going to take my cable box off so it stays on all the time simply because it loses the guide information when it loses power and sometimes takes an hour or so to reload it all. YMMV on cost savings, but if you have a kill-a-watt, it should be pretty easy to figure out. I'm saving $4 per month, so in my situation, the device would pay for itself in about 6 months.

[ddhsoftware]

I posted a reply, but don't see it here. Trying again, if I can remember what I was asking!

Does this product seem in direct contrast to the benefit it provides? By that I'm asking if the power that each plug in receiver needs to monitor RF for turning power on and off is supplanting the benefit for shutting off a standby device. Surely a wireless RF receiver on each outlet is going to take power itself? Since you have advocated Kill-a-watt before, maybe you can monitor the load of the plug when the device itself is turning off a standby mode in a plugged in device and see the load difference.

[Chris Gohlke]

Hmmm, I'm seeing your original question, can you not see it? I posted a reply also. But to summarize the draw of the receiver is FAR less, almost 0, as opposed to the 44 watts that everything else was drawing.

[ddhsoftware]

Hi Chris,

I saw your reply to my original post, so I guess you can somehow see it. In my case, I see only my second reply which was posted after your reply to my first one! How strange. In any case, sounds like the draw is indeed significantly less. That's good news!

Thanks for your posting and your reply.

[Chris Gohlke]

I'll report to Jason to see if there is a bug in the site causing you not to see some posts.

[gears]

Why does the review call it Bye Bye Standbye when it's called Bye Bye Standby?

[Chris Gohlke]

Why does the review call it Bye Bye Standbye when it's called Bye Bye Standby?

Because some days I have a total disconnect between the brain and the keyboard. ;) Good catch, I fixed it.

[gears]

:) No worries :)

[Jason Dunn]

I'll report to Jason to see if there is a bug in the site causing you not to see some posts.

There's no bug - we hold the first post in moderation as an anti-spam measure, then after the first post the account is elevated so no future posts are held for moderation. As a forum admin, you can see the post when no one else can. I've approved his post.

[Zen]

I would much prefer to put a Smart Strip Power Strips on your AV equipment, plug the TV into the computer socket, and all the rest of your gear into the slave outlets, then everything goes on and off automatically. Who the heck needs yet another remote?

Chris how much does the 360 alone consume in standby?

[Chris Gohlke]

Zen:

Certainly a valid option. It would at least be somewhat effective, the extent to which would depend on how much draw your TV has in standby.

Tested my 360 by itself and it draws 2 watts in standby.

[Chris Gohlke]

Noticed something else interesting when testing for the xbox draw. Of the 44 watts my home entertainment system draws, 29 of it is from my cable box, when it is off. It bumps up to 31 when it is turned on. Seems like an awful lot of draw for something that is powered off. I was planning to leave it plugged in to save guide information, but not at that rate of draw.

[Zen]

That makes sense as it is probably pulling guide info, it may have a sleep though which is only activated after the unit is idle for 10min or an hour, or who knows how long, if so it would probably go down to 2-5w. We have a DVR cablebox though, so it always has to be on to record stuff. Another option to save on the cable box would be cablecard or a tv that supports digital cable directly.

[888]

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.
To manufacture each of these "power saving" gizmos, the chinese factories used much more energy than you stupid people will ever save from that "phantom power use". Not to mention the pollution these factories have added.

You replaced standard light bulbs with fluorescent ones everywhere in your home? Great. You probably will save a $1000 through your entire life.
I guess to some people even a buck more in their pocket is worth loosing their eyesight prematurely in few years. (and please don't even try to argue on that one - these new fluorescent bulbs flicker the same way the old fluorescent tubes did, the only difference is in their shape; even most of us can't see them flicker it is still very bad for our eyes, just ask any doctor).

[Chris Gohlke]

888 -

Care to share any links to support your statements? I'm happy to engage in an intelligent debate, but starting off calling people stupid makes you look like a troll.

Simple economics shows you are wrong. I'm saving $4/month. It pays for itself in approximately 6 months. Are you saying there is more than a $24.99 energy cost in the product? If so, then selling it for less than the input energy costs is a pretty stupid economic decision. Plus, given the above, there has to be a breakeven point for the pollution created in making this device versus the energy it saves.