War On Standby: Do the figures actually stack up?

What makes sense, to me, is to regulate electrical devices so that standby power levels are as low as can reasonably be achieved. This saves energy without consumers having to make an effort.

Things like the 1-Watt initiative have made huge strides in this direction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Watt_Initiative

Buy a quality kill-o-watt - you will know for yourself (it's fun).

My take-away after few weeks of measurments:

- Mind your old devices! (My old Sony midi-hifi was running 20W on standby! Killed.)

- Make a shortcut to switch off LCD monitors everytime you go AFK - energy consumption can drop 80W for two monitors (havn't checked LED monitors)

- Don't obsess about chargers left in sockets (0.1W)

- Modern big LCD TV is around 5W in standby; changing options of image (vivid vs. cinema vs. energy saver, etc.) while watching can make a difference of up to 50W.

Turn you device on and off twice a day, stress the electronics, and send it to the landfill much earlier than necessary, and build another one (consuming resources) that much earlier.

TANSTAAFL