Bye Bye Standby Energy-Saving Kit > Reviews (1)

I am all for saving energy, be it my own or that supplied by the electricity board to my TV, computer, and radio, all of which are plugged into sockets, around the house; none of which are not easy to reach, in that they are usually hidden behind heavy pieces of furniture.

Nowadays, devices such as television sets, and radios remain on standby, even when switched off.

I am led to believe that if the electricity supply is not switched off at the wall there is a constant leakage of valuable energy, hence, wastage of power into and through the appliance - not to mention waste of precious pennies. I checked this out, by making sure all my electrical appliances were switched off and looking at the disc on my electricity meter - sure enough the little disc was turning, albeit very, very slowly, registering energy usage.

One day, almost three years ago, whilst browsing through one of our local stores, I noticed what claimed to be an===energy saving kit=== A package of three adaptor plugs and a thin remote control. Intrigued, and with a bit of cash to spare, decided to buy and try. I cannot remember exactly what I paid for the kit, but it was less than £20. They can still be purchased to this day for around £18 on line and in one store; I saw very recently similar kits, made by different companies, which have the exact same functions for around the same price. Amazon sell a starter kit, with one adaptor and the control for £10.80 and also packs containing just two adaptors for those wishing to add to their starter kit.

The small instruction leaflet was concise and easy to follow, also describing how it would save energy.

How does it work?

The adaptor is plugged into the wall socket. An electrical appliance, a TV, for example, is plugged into the adaptor.
Each adaptor has two small dials and by setting each dial to one of eight positions (a different setting for each adaptor), the remote control will identify each adaptor by its unique setting.

The remote has five red and five green buttons. The red turns off the supply of electricity flowing into the TV. The green button turns it back on.

When all three adaptors are in use, one set of red and green buttons can be set to control all three plugs simultaneously.
At the rear of the control is a small screw to open the back to replace the battery. So far, after nearly three years of daily use, I have not needed to replace the battery.

How does it saving energy?

I never used to switch any appliance off at the wall, which meant that all my standby appliances were left on standby, and, in effect, eating my money.
A quick stab at the red button and the energy supply was instantly cut -off - any leaks plugged! My meter dial stopped turning.

I can hear some saying. ‘Why not switch off at the wall in the first place - lazy ...?’
As I said earlier, my wall sockets are not easy to reach, and maybe there is a touch of laziness involved too.

Opinion

One impressive feature of this device that certainly appeals to me ( Alright - my lazy side, then) is when, I want to record a TV programme late evening, but don't want to stay up until it had finished recording.

Before I fitted this energy saving adaptor, I would turn off the TV and retire to bed, leaving the set on standby so that the video could record. It would be three hours, before the video would rewind and turn itself off; and of course, the TV and video were still on standby, nibbling away at my savings.

Now, all I need do, is take the 'Energy Saving' remote upstairs and when the programme being recorded has ended, point the control in the general direction of the TV ( through the ceiling), and everything is safely turned off for the night. The remote seems to be non-directional and workable at some distance away from the appliances. The maximum distance is said to be 60m.

I am not sure how long it will take to save me the price I paid for it, but already it has given me peace of mind. That must be a valuable feature in itself.
Summary: One more step towards reducing my carbon footprint