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Engineers are energy wastrels, or so we loudly and frequently assert here at BUNGCO. Wastrels! Electrical appliances are built to hog up much more energy than they actually need, in a manner reminiscent of my neighbor whose sprinklers pour great gouts of water over the grass and into the gutter many
times daily. BUNGCO is communally outraged at those wastrels. We will help make it right.
The Energy Diet device attaches to the power cord and features a dial, which is black. With the appliance in use, use the EDD to dial down the energy your appliance receives, until you find the appliance no longer operates in a pleasing fashion. Then take the dial up one notch and viola! Leaner, hungrier appliances now using what they need, not just want, lower energy bills and a greener world!
Non energy vampire remote
Non_20Energy_20Vampire_20Remote
Inspired me, loosely. [bungston, May 22 2009]
[link]
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//use the EDD to dial down the energy your appliance receives// |
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How would it do this ? (a few technical details should suffice to discount a bad-science mfd). |
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A rheostat is a variable resistor. If you use this on a switched-mode PSU, the device will operate well until the minimum supply voltage, which could be anything down to 25% of mains voltage. In this case the device after the rheostat was 'turned up a notch' would have no safety margin for increased load and the rheostat would be consuming 75% of the power supplied to the combined circuit i.e. taking 4 times the amount of power as compared to without the EDD. |
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I'm sorry, [marked-for-deletion] Bad science. |
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I'm guessing BUNGCO has a few too many engineers on its payroll. Actually, I have no clue if this would work or not. If it could, then it would be pretty cool. (neutral) |
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A lot of things...lots...no. |
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Essential features of an appliance would probably stop working as quickly as the energy hog features. I think with a transformer you could dial down the voltage a little though. Not much, but a little. |
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An energy diet device already exists and is called the off switch. |
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[Bad Jim] So a sort of medieval torture device for
wall warts. If the transformer was flexible and in
an adjustable clamp then putting the screws on
would change the distance between windings and
therefore alter the power being transformed. |
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Whether this would effect the power going
through the primary winding is another matter. |
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I have been pondering bigsleeps comments on rheostats. When I turn down the lights using a rheostat to the point where I can barely see, I compensate for my blindness with selfpride at my greenness and saving the earthedness. If the energy that would have gone to make light instead just makes heat in the rheostat, I have saved nothing and I am ungreen. Is this true? Rheostats do not save energy? |
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Sometimes. In the case of a bulb the total series resistance goes up. More resistance with the same voltage equals less power consumed ( Power = volts x amps = volts * volts / resistance). |
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You can only assume this for purely resistive devices. My example of a switched mode PSU is the worst. It will lower its effective resistance in response to trying to save energy. |
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Having said all that, most dimmers are not rheostats but also active electronics that just switch the bulb on and off rapidly with no resistive ballast. They won't waste too much energy, but they also don't work with most CFLs either. |
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