Standby Power

Pulling the plug on standby power

So, many of devices use more power when on standby than we thought. I am all for letting the consumer know about what they are buying. I also like the idea of minimizing the amount of power that a device uses in standby mode.

I think though that California laws go a little too far. The scientist, Alan Meier, thought that standby mode of a watt (1 watt) was a great target to shoot for. California takes this idea and then goes beyond, with 0.75 watts by next year and 0.5 by 2008.

Hello? The scientist who has been pushing for awareness about this issue did not ask for something this extreme. So why would California law makers go this far?

I would like to see a listing of the power consumption when in standby and when in 'normal use' listed. Then consumers could decide which product to buy. This way if there is some feature that a company wants to offer that takes the standby power consumption above 1 watt, then the consumer can make the decision for themselves if that feature is worth it.

LDJ

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