Electrical timers are humble devices, but they might give you that energy-saving edge you’re after!
In fact, they are one the simplest upgrades you can make to your house. The Intermatic timer pictured here plugs into any electrical socket and switches that device on or off at the times you set. It costs only $11, and will allow you to set two on/off settings per day. You can use them to turn off all those appliances that suck down energy even while idle.
Available from Home Depot and other hardware stores.
3 responses so far ↓
1 David Lightman // May 21, 2005 at 6:00 pm
If you buy more than one timer, you can interchange the little timing pegs to make a timer that has more than two on/offs per day. You can also wire them in series (along with some careful math) get them to do non-24 hour schedules.
Finally, a neat use for them is to control the powerstrip that all my “chargers” are plugged into. I charge my cellphone, pda, etc. at night while I sleep, but I have a terrible habit of not unplugging the power cubes when I leave in the morning.
2 JBB // May 23, 2005 at 3:08 pm
So, ah, how much power do *these* things use while “idle”?
3 Justin // May 23, 2005 at 4:36 pm
Good question - I was curious myself but couldn’t find the answer.
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