Comments on: 22% of Consumers Don’t Know How to Discern Green Products http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/07/09/22-of-consumers-dont-know-how-to-discern-green-products/ Environmental Leader Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:25:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Alex http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/07/09/22-of-consumers-dont-know-how-to-discern-green-products/comment-page-1/#comment-135884 Alex Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:46:41 +0000 http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=17437#comment-135884 I am generally suspicious of studies that conclude a subject is important, particularly when motivated by an organizations that has a vested interest in the subject being important. So it is my pleasure to independently confirm this result as consistent with the results we are finding at open4energy. We are an open source supplier of information about green technology. We have just published a review of how much energy is used in phantom power, when charging a well known brand of PDA, a BlackBerry. The results find that 10 times the energy needed for charging is typically wasted leaving the charger plugged in after charging is complete. The full details can be found at http://open4energy.com/forum/mc/nb/phantom_power But the point we make in support of your findings is this. It seems that most device owners are unaware exactly what phantom power is. With this being the case, it would be impossible for them to assess if a charger was energy efficient as advertised, or not. We further find that a large portion of information on the internet regarding the subject of energy efficiency in consumer computing devices is simply wrong. It has been written to promote one or other device, usually the a kill a watt (which is stated inaccurate under 60 W) or a smart power strip claiming impossible energy reductions. Note the new term "vampire power" and not the traditional term of "standby power" as the hype is picked up. Thank you for this report, and may I add our warning to be diligent on where you get the information you will need to make an informed decision on energy efficiency. And don't forget that the best, and FREE, savings method is to "turn it off" when not being used. I am generally suspicious of studies that conclude a subject is important, particularly when motivated by an organizations that has a vested interest in the subject being important.

So it is my pleasure to independently confirm this result as consistent with the results we are finding at open4energy. We are an open source supplier of information about green technology. We have just published a review of how much energy is used in phantom power, when charging a well known brand of PDA, a BlackBerry.

The results find that 10 times the energy needed for charging is typically wasted leaving the charger plugged in after charging is complete. The full details can be found at http://open4energy.com/forum/mc/nb/phantom_power

But the point we make in support of your findings is this. It seems that most device owners are unaware exactly what phantom power is. With this being the case, it would be impossible for them to assess if a charger was energy efficient as advertised, or not.

We further find that a large portion of information on the internet regarding the subject of energy efficiency in consumer computing devices is simply wrong. It has been written to promote one or other device, usually the a kill a watt (which is stated inaccurate under 60 W) or a smart power strip claiming impossible energy reductions.

Note the new term “vampire power” and not the traditional term of “standby power” as the hype is picked up.

Thank you for this report, and may I add our warning to be diligent on where you get the information you will need to make an informed decision on energy efficiency.

And don’t forget that the best, and FREE, savings method is to “turn it off” when not being used.

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