Just wasted $40 on a 'smart' power strip that doesn't actually save anything

Picked up one of those fancy power strips at Best Buy last weekend that claims to cut phantom loads. Plugged my TV and soundbar into it, but the thing keeps the outlets live as long as the main device draws power. My TV uses like 2 watts in standby so the strip never actually shuts anything off. Anyone else fall for these energy saving gadgets that don't deliver?

4 comments

4 Comments

emma_dixon7023d ago

...and honestly that's the whole problem with these things, they're basically designed for a specific use case that almost nobody actually has. Like, unless you're running a setup where your main device draws like 15 watts minimum in standby, it'll never hit the threshold. My desktop monitor pulls maybe 1 watt when off, so the power strip I bought just stays on forever. I had to toss an old desk lamp between my stuff just to get the thing to shut off at night. It's such a waste, you'd think they'd test these with common household stuff.

blair_webb23d ago

...and that's the thing, it's like half the tech out there is designed for an ideal world nobody actually lives in. These power strips are a perfect example, they're tested in a lab with a big old 60 watt TV that draws enough standby power to keep the thing from triggering, but in real life your stuff barely uses anything when it's off. It's the same pattern I see with all sorts of "smart" devices, they're barely tested with common everyday setups. Like, my buddy bought a smart thermostat that was supposed to learn your schedule, but it kept turning the heat on at 4 AM because it saw a tiny temperature dip and figured he was waking up. They just don't account for all the messy, random ways people actually live.

taylorellis23d ago

Just means the strip needs a higher standby load to trigger, they're all like that.

the_grace23d ago

My cousin's old Subaru had this weird thing where you had to let the radio play for like a solid minute before the lighter socket would work with his phone charger. Took us forever to figure out it was a load issue, not a blown fuse. Funny how you stumble on these quirks, we ended up just leaving an old dashcam plugged in as a dummy load so the phone would charge right away. Never would have guessed that trick if we hadn't watched a dozen YouTube videos from some random guy in his garage. @taylorellis is right though, they're all like that once you know what to look for.