Saving Energy?
Or should you just leave them plugged in?
Because I heard that if you unplug things and plug them back in constantly then the energy surge wastes more energy than if you were to leave the alliance plugged in all the time.
Is this true?
Please provide valid research.
Answer:
Everything I have ever read regarding saving energy, states to unplug things while not in use. I've included a few links, but there is a ton of research. It is worth the hassle, even to just save some money on your bill!
More power is used to turn something on than it is to leave it on for a few hours.
I just typed in 'saving energy " in google and that said to turn off things whenever you could to save energy but didn't say unplug it so I would say based on that web site that unpluging things is a waste of time. Google 'saving energy" and there is your valid research--ok?
No. There is an energy surge when plugging something in or turning it on, but it is very insignificant. It is definately better to unplug the equipment.
It was proven on myth busters with lightbulbs
It acually saves energy by leaving somethign plugged in and if u are going to use it alot if acually saves if u leave it on because by turning it on and off ALOT uses more electricity
Good luck
And thanks for caring!
well i think that if you are not using something you should unplug it because you will save more energy that way. and if you know that you are going to be using that thing again soon you should not unplug it because the energy that's is stored in it will be lost and when you plug it back in you are going to use up more energy
Plugging and unplugging , it does really matter unless you continue to turn it on and off
I don't really know but I would assume it depends on how long you leave something unplugged before you plug it back in. Like your TV or stereo have a stand by mode that keeps track of things like the programing and time. And if your stuff is anything like mine there is always that little LED light. Now if you don't care about the time and date getting erased you can leave it unplugged if you aren't going to be using it for say a few weeks. That would save more energy than replugging it in every few days IF there is that surge.
My boyfriend and I have a small TV that we watch and a bigger one for playing video games with his friends that we leave unplugged most of the time.
Well, I do know that for lightbulbs, turning them off is always the way to go. The "surge" of power used to turn them on is so little, that you have maybe a few seconds where you could leave the room, come back in, and waste less energy leaving the light on that turning it off and back on.
That said, with appliances, I'm not so sure with turning it on, but as for being plugged in, ANYTHING plugged into an outlet is "leeching" electricity, even if it is turned off and not being used.
I know they sell special power strips that can help. For instance if you were to turn off your television, then the strip would block any and all power from getting to it, so it's not longer leeching electricity. With even better power strips, it will also cut off peripherals such as a VCR or DVD player when you turn off the television, saving even more energy.
Unplug them! I'd heard the same thing as you, so I did some research.
Your specific question is addressed by David Suzuki: TURN COMPUTER EQUIPMENT COMPLETELY OFF
A common myth is that computers should be left on all the time. Nope, that just wastes energy. Another myth is that the spike in energy needed to start up computers and monitors is so high that it saves energy to keep them on. Actually, that spike lasts a very short time. Use a power bar to completely shut off all your computer equipment when not in use and save electricity!
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/wol/challenge...
There are several comprehensive studies here:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/relea...
The effort used to continually plug and unplug is greater than the energy saved to unplug items when not in use.
It is very simple, Energy = Power x Time.
When you start something, there is usually a power surge that lasts <1 second (a few milliseconds, actually). If the power surge is 10 times of the power of normal operation, then you will save energy if you turn off the equipment for >10 second.
If the power surge is 1000 times the power of normal operation, then you will save energy if you turn it off for 1000 seconds (16 minutes). This is unlikely to happen with most electronics, as the peak power will be limited by the power supply. (Imagine drawing 100,000W in your 100W computer, or 60,000W in your 60W light bulb).
When something is OFF, but still plugged in, its power consumption depends on what it is. Most electronics are at the minimum waiting for remote control activity. Some do a lot when they are "off", like my cable box is always updating programming.
Since most of us turn things off for hours, if not days, you will almost ALWAYS save energy by turning things off.
The only places where you might not save energy by power them down are things that take a long time to "restart." For example, you wouldn't unplug your refrigerator if you're not using it for a few hours, or your pre-heated oven if you expect to bake something again in 5 minutes. Those things do take a lot more power to reach steady state than to maintain that state.
when u unplugged them for any length of time , u r saving electricity , period.
to plug and unplug constantly probably does cause a surge so when u unplug it make sure it is for the day.
most all these we have these days r drawing electricity 24/7 so when u unplug them, they no longer r.
we turn off our stove at the breaker box and we r saving a small fortune.
They have had different talk shows on lately where segments of it they were talking about this and other energy-saving ideas...They said that leaving anything plugged in, especially cellphone, game and battery chargers use 40% energy when they are just plugged in and not charging anything...also, anything that has any type of light or time-memory thingy uses electricity whether it is in use or not..I choose to unplug just about everything in my home, I started this last year, and with the exception of the winter months, the electricity used was less this year so far as to last year at the same time..so I say, that it takes very little physical energy to unplug things and only plug them in when you want to use it than the electrical energy that these things are using up just sitting there...take care and PEACE!!
it true the powert that still in the cords is good but when you brike the connection the power has to start over again
There was a Mythbusters episode about this. Apparently, by average turn on/off of lights, turning your lights on and off routinely, as in like, how you turn them off and on every day, saves a LOT more energy than just leaving them on. Furthermore, the bulbs that stay on for too long short out faster. It is true, however, that turning on a lightbulb takes much more energy than when the lightbulb is already on. Still, based on average light turning on/off patterns, it's not a good idea to leave them on.
There was an ice storm in Kansas a couple of years ago. The electric company asked their customers to unplug any appliances that they weren't using because even if the appliance is turned off, it draws electricity.
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