Simple, But Effective Electronic Device Charging

[Brad Wasson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://lifehacker.com/#!5794824/the-belkin-conserve-socket-automatically-shuts-off-charging-devices-with-the-flip-of-a-switch' target='_blank'>http://lifehacker.com/#!5794824/the...lip-of-a-switch</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Belkin Conserve Socket isn't the only product of its type, but it's super simple and relatively inexpensive at only $10. Just plug your gadget into the adapter, set it to shut off after a half hour, three hours, or six hours, and forget about it. It'll charge your gadget up and cut the power when it's done so you don't kill the battery."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//wpt/auto/1304086632.usr110171.png" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>Charging portable electronic devices is, well, a fact of life. It seems we have more and more charging to do all the time. While there have been tremendous advances over the years in battery technology, particularly in how charging affects battery life, a little help from a device like the Belkin Conserve Socket can make the whole process more efficient. The idea is very simple: set the charge time via a switch on the adapter, plug your device into it and the adapter into the wall and you are ready to charge efficiently. One thing to be careful of: if your device is not turned off while the charging process is underway, once the charging is complete the device will resume depleting the battery. At $10, this is a handy, cost-effective, and efficient addition to your electronic device collection.</p>

[ptyork]

At $10 a pop, it's gonna take a lot of vampire draw to break even. Even if plugged in constantly for "trickle charging" to keep the batteries topped off, most CE devices won't draw more than a watt or so once they've finished their charging cycle. Most power bricks draw in the milliwatts when NOT connected to their device (just enough to detect when the device gets plugged in); that's completely insignificant. More, the trickle charging is replacing power used, which would be replaced anyway. There's a bit of inefficiency involved, but not much. So the real saving here are likely much less than the 1 watt of draw.

But let's run with the 1 watt thing. Assuming 1 watt of vampire draw it'll take more than 42 days (1000 hours) of use to save a single KW/h. At 12 cents a KW/h, it'll take ten or more years to break even for most folks--likely well beyond the useful life of this gizmo. IMO, it probably used more energy to make these than they'll ever save.

Note, I'm a huge power grinch, so cutting energy use is very high on my agenda. This one just seems like a good sounding idea without much practical savings.