Unplug your phone charger and stop global warming

or not ...

someone talking sense at last

formatting link

Reply to
geoff
Loading thread data ...

standby mode are now micro power consumption, which can be left plugged in without any significant load. My most recent Nokia phone charger falls into this category.

The items which aren't seem to be those which are UK-specific such as cable and set-top boxes. This is probably because we don't have any requirement for micro power consumption in standby mode, whereas many other countries now do, and in order to sell a product internationally, it's now pretty much an essential requirement.

I did a check on a number of LCD monitors and laptop power supplies a year ago. Monitors (HP) were all marked Tco'03 which requires very low standby power consumption, although the monitors were all very much lower than even that standard requires. The Toshiba PSU's didn't claim any such low standby power consumption, but they too were insignificant (both well below 1W). So neither were worth recommending staff to bother switching off.

Leaving a laptop PSU connected to a laptop with a battery in it causes significant standby power draw though, even when the battery is fully charged.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Interesting stuff. Unfortunately logic and maths don't have the mass appeal of soundbites.

Channel Five ran a news story the other day about how ~ 25% of all land, sea, and pond species had become extinct since 1970 (they had different numbers, but to two significant figures, for each category). Evidently no-one in their newsroom did a sanity check. The web site featured most if not all of their other stories of the day, except this one. I wonder why.

Reply to
newshound

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:29:19 +0100 someone who may be geoff wrote this:-

All you have to do now, if you wish to be convincing, is to come up with an instance where someone claimed that just unplugging phone chargers would stop global warming.

Good luck in your quest.

Reply to
David Hansen

There are going to be two more Chinas by 2050, with all people demanding a more equitable standard of living across the planet. Plastic bags and items on standby aren't going to cut it. We need to drastically cut the birth-rate, however our Gordon appears intent on financing further growth.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Cap

In message , David Hansen wrote

Top energy saving tips from British Gas

Number 1 - Unplug your mobile phone charger.

formatting link

Reply to
Alan

...and use a gas one instead? :-)

Reply to
Andy Hall

Well a few years ago there was much talk of methane fuel cells being used to power mobile devices. Whatever became of that idea?

Reply to
Andy Wade

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

well go and do so, doh ...

Reply to
geoff

In message , Alan writes

Reply to
geoff

If you got put off by the apparent huge PDF tome you had to download (as I was initially!) actually, the phone charger article is at another (very easy-to-read) link - worth a shufti!:

formatting link

Reply to
Lobster

I think that production of un-necessary stuff is a bigger problem:

eg. * Getting a new phone charger with your new phone when your old one was okay (should be optional to make you think)

  • Making and importing (from China) cheap batteries that don't last very long - waste of resources - waste of transport and increase in landfill polutants - for little benefit.

  • Shipping cheap Xmas tat from China for it to end up in the bin by the end of January.

The "stand-by" issue is a red herring as most modern devices are incredibly low consumption - yet the reports are often based on old equipment.

Reply to
John

Except that almost every phone that anyone in my family has ever owned (even from the same manufacturer) has needed a different charger. Why the hell couldn't that (ie voltage/plug type) have been standardised years ago, which would have allowed the above eg to have happened?

David

Reply to
Lobster

It has - mini USB connectors.

Some mobile phones (e.g. Motorola) and most PDAs and Blackberrys use these, as do some other devices like Bluetooth thingies for the lughole.

Charging options are:

- From the Mac (or a PC for those who haven't seen the light as yet)

- Small charging lead in the car

- Universal adaptor with swappable head for other countries

The chargers are still supplied with the handheld devices. I keep one or two and then bin the others.

Because I don't need to carry these extra chargers with me on flights, there is a fuel saving of 100mL on a one hour flight and I can feel really virtuous that I have reduced my carbon footprint and saved the world.

Reply to
Andy Hall

In message , Lobster writes

Not mine, almost every phone with the exception of the current two used the same charger, even when they changed the plug they included a handy little adapter. Unfortunately, they supplied a new charger with every new phone....

Because it makes sense.

Reply to
Clint Sharp

Hmm. Our household collection includes both a Motorola and Blackberry; however although the charger plugs look identical they definitely aren't: we have to use the dedicated chargers. Can't remember which permutations of charger/phone work, but IIRC we have to use the originals for both devices.

Always seemed very odd to me and I always mean to investigate further!

David

Reply to
Lobster

Really? That surprises me. I've never had problems with using any USB power source with them.

Reply to
Andy Hall

Except that the OMTP (the major manufacturers) decided last year to move to micro-USB instead.

"Due to the situation in USB standards evolution, OMTP defines two classes for physical data connectivity. However, it is a common view of participating companies that the industry will gradually shift to using Class OMTP ConD1 [USB micro B or micro AB receptacle(s)] for standard data connectivity, and the Class OMTP ConD2 [USB mini B receptacle] will only be used in exceptional cases in the future."

formatting link

Reply to
Mike Barnes

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:40:36 +0100 someone who may be Alan wrote this:-

global warming.

Reply to
David Hansen

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:31:11 +0100 someone who may be geoff wrote this:-

Nice try, but incorrect as usual. Rudeness in the posting too. Do keep it up.

BTW one fairly obvious fact in that link is that British Gas do not claim that just unplugging phone chargers would stop global warming. It is always mildly amusing to see the straws some will clutch at.

Reply to
David Hansen

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.