[Hidden-tech] what uses electricity when it is plugged in?

[ussailis at shaysnet.com]

Everything that has a "remote control" uses juice when the box that is
controlled is lugged in. Here's why...

Every remote is a transmitter. Either Infra-red, or by radio. So the box
that is controlled must have a receiver to get the remote signal. This says
it must have a power supply, hence AC power is used.

A little known secret is the transmitter uses much less power than the
receiver. Why? Because the receiver must be "on" all the time, the
transmitter is only "on" when a button is pressed.

Is your computer using electricity when it is plugged in? Mayby. If it is
on "standby," os "asleep," then it surely is. If you shut the switch off on
an older computer, probably not. 

Are other appliances consuming power? Possibly. The microwave, more than
likely. Why? It has a microcontroller that has to be up & running when you
press any button. Many othet microcontroller devices also have this problem.

The recommendation of using a "Kill-a-watt" works. I place everythhing,
including the printer, on a power bar.  Off it goes when the my stuff is
not in use. (Yes, many printers are always on standby.)

All this has two virtues:

1. Lowers electricity useage, and

2. Reduces noise pickup on your radio. 

This noise is a very real issue. Many, many modern power supplies generate
radio noise. The FCC is supposed to certify a test for this if the item is
sent to a testing lab. Much of that Chinese stuff isn't sent to a lab.

Customs is supposed to intercept that which doesn't have certification.
They have one inspector between the East and Gulf coasts, so you know what
occurs.

Finally does all this stuff use 15% of the power generated? That's a bit
much. I don't know the answer, but have heard in my EE trade mags that
standby power uses about one nuke plants worth of power in the country.
That's believable.



Jim Ussailis

ussailis at shaysnet.com



Original Message:
-----------------
From: Robin MacRostie rmacr at choreographicdesign.com
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:12:40 -0400
To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
Subject: [Hidden-tech] what uses electricity when it is plugged in?


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