A simple plug that can be attached to any office equipment has been shown to cut energy use by up to 93 per cent.
The '
Green Plug’, which costs just £6.50 to buy, has shown in trials to cut the
electricity consumption of appliances, including
IT equipment, by an average of 41 per cent. For printers, energy use was slashed by as much as 93 per cent.
The findings have been published by Professor Crowder of Imperial College, who conducted the trials to independently verify the
energy efficiency of the Green Plug. The company behind the device is Logicor, an
R&D company based in West Yorkshire that focuses on energy efficiency products.
How the Green Plug worksGreen Plug is designed to switch off electrical appliances that are either accidentally left switched on or normally left on standby for long periods of time.
The plug has an integrated air-driven timer that switches off the power supply completely and automatically after a predetermined duration.
The trialProfessor Crowder’s trial, published today, focused on use of the plug in sixty-eight houses in West Yorkshire. Ten different electrical appliances were monitored including 50 lamps, 58 mobile phones, 28 PC screens, 31 printers, 40 laptops and 34 TVs.
The lamps and PCs achieved an average saving of 40 per cent, mobile phones and laptops 26 per cent, TVs 53 per cent and printers 93 per cent.
The report concluded that the deep cuts achieved by using the plug with printers suggested that they were more likely to be left on than other equipment in the home.
"Households can waste up to £365 a year from electrical appliances being left on overnight or switched to standby – that’s a pound a day. Logica’s Green Plug is a great example of an innovative product by a British company providing a practical solution to an environmental problem," said Professor Crowder.
David Bowen,managing director of Logicor, added: "These trials are the fruition of many years of work to develop a simplesolution that helps to cut electricity bills and reduce carbonemissions. Myself and the team at Logicor are very pleased with theresults of the trial and for the promise the findings hold for the restof the energy efficient systems in development."
As well as the 'Green Plug’, Logicor is developing a 'Green Wall Socket’ with integrated timer, and an adaptor.
Green Plugs are available with different pre-set durations suited to different needs and carry British Safety Standards approval.
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Related content:Energy efficiencyGreen ITGreen SME
Related links:http://www.green-plug.co.uk
