Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 10-Outlet
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List Price: Our Price: $32.95 You Save: $18.77 (36%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $27.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 10-Outlet
Customer Review: Automatic control
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent operation, this product effectively works by remote control. It
is controlled by a TV remote. This control is exactly hat I needed.
Customer Review: Better than expected!
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought this to use with our entertainment system and were shocked when we got our electric bill a month later- it was down $15! Each month we are saving $ and within 2 months had already made the cost of the strip back. We plugged in our HDTV to the control unit outlet, the cable box & wireless router in the outlets that stay on all the time, and then we have our Wii, Xbox, blu ray player, network storage device & printer plugged into the other outlets that are controlled by the TV. People who have video game systems will especially find these smart strips to work well and save lots of $ when they aren't in use. I've convinced everyone in my family to buy one- we are that impressed!Customer Review: Better than expected!!
Summary: 5 Stars
My computer is plugged into the control outlet. When I standby computer all those little power suckers, modem, cordless phone, printer, battery charger, speakers, etc. are turned off. Simple and effective. I don't know if it will ever pay for itself in energy savings, but it already has in good feelings. You need one of these.Customer Review: Clap On, Clap Off!
Summary: 4 Stars
I work at home as an IT Consultant, so I have lots of electronic equipment running all of the time. I have been investigating options to save energy and thought I would give this a try. I think the concept is great for most items (lamps, printers, chargers, other computer peripherals); however, I really haven't figured out a way to use it with energy hogs like plasma TV's and DVD players. If you have a surge protectors or power strip that just has "dummy" devices plugged in, this unit works great. I have a central outlet I use with laptops, a printer and lamps on my desk and it's nice to just turn off the printer and have it turn off all the other devices.
As for energy hogs like a plasma TV and DVR, if you are smart and have a central power management unit, there is no way to use this without killing the power to everything. The DVR has to stay on all the time to record programs, so you either have to separate the TV from the central power management unit defeating the purpose of conditioning the circuit or kill the entire center. I don't really care about the clocks on the DVD player (why do they still put a clock on these things all they do is burn out the LED's on the little screen?), but I don't want to separate anything from the central power unit. Maybe Belkin and Monster will come up with something that works for those devices, since they can still draw up to 30% power even when they are off.
One caveat for computer devices...if you have laser printers, make sure you use it as the main power source on this. You should not kill the power to a laser printer without turning off the power button first. You will use up a considerable amount of toner and add extra wear to the drum unit as the printer will have to recharge the drum using extra toner. Most printers are have a pretty decent power save mode and most manufacturers don't really recommend turning them off anyway.
Overall, I think the concept of these power saving strips can create some significant savings; however, $25-30 for each strip means you need to have a considerable amount of power draw from the devices that are plugged in to justify the cost vs. return. If you use it for a few flourescent lamps, it's a waste of money, but for the right combination of devices, you may get your money back. You can buy a regular surge protector and just hit the power button on it as easily as you can turn the power off of one device to get the same results. These are first generation and have great potential, just don't buy one to avoid bending down to turn off a surge protector.
Customer Review: Cuts the clutter
Summary: 4 Stars
We were able to rearrange our spaghetti-mess of cords at the computer worktable with this little guy; at the same time we have only one switch to think about. Hopefully this will cut the power usage some; we are on a solar system so every little bit counts!