Mobile phone chargers without a phone - hype?

[[email protected]]

So the latest buzz in the media is about being "green" by unplugging
your mobile phone charger when it's not currently charging a phone.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but isn't the only power
consumed due to wire resistance in the primary winding of the
transformer? Seems to me that should be miniscule.

Now phones that don't disconnect the charging circuit when they are
charged, and thus remain hot to the touch, would be a different
story. But I have never encountered a phone with a lithium battery
that did not possess such a cutoff.

So is there any material value to this practice or is it like saving
on gasoline by turning off the radio?

 

[sparky]

So the latest buzz in the media is about being "green" by unplugging
your mobile phone charger when it's not currently charging a phone.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but isn't the only power
consumed due to wire resistance in the primary winding of the
transformer? Seems to me that should be miniscule.

Now phones that don't disconnect the charging circuit when they are
charged, and thus remain hot to the touch, would be a different
story. But I have never encountered a phone with a lithium battery
that did not possess such a cutoff.

So is there any material value to this practice or is it like saving
on gasoline by turning off the radio?

You could possibly save 14 cents per year by unplugging your charger
when not in use. Not worth the bother!

 

[John Tserkezis]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but isn't the only power
consumed due to wire resistance in the primary winding of the
transformer? Seems to me that should be miniscule.

They're all switchmode now, but either way, the residual consumption of
current while not in use still remains relatively close to miniscule.

Now phones that don't disconnect the charging circuit when they are
charged, and thus remain hot to the touch, would be a different
story.

And they don't exist.

But I have never encountered a phone with a lithium battery
that did not possess such a cutoff.

And you won't. One side effect of gross overcharging is the batteries go
bang in quite a spectacular manner.

So is there any material value to this practice or is it like saving
on gasoline by turning off the radio?

Like the other poster said. Cents per year saving, not worth the bother.

The tripe originated from some moron who thought the phone chargers exist
within a universe of their own. They don't, there are other considerations to
determining the cost of ownership, cost to environment, and overall power
consumption.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

The tripe originated from some moron who thought the phone chargers exist
within a universe of their own. They don't, there are other considerations to
determining the cost of ownership, cost to environment, and overall power
consumption.

It's worse than that. Due to the lack of knowledge of the press and the
general public, it's better to blame global warming for anything these
days.

For example, when the river floods, instead of blaming lack of proper
dams, maintaining pumps and so on, it's "global warming". Or in Africa
if you have a bad year for mosquitos because you don't spray, don't
use nets, etc, if you say people are dying because we are poor and
have to spend our money on food instead of preventive measures, you
get an "oh too bad" from people in the industrialized nations.

If you publish a report that claims the increase in the population
of mosquitos is due to global warming, then you get lots of relief
money.

It's also a matter of sense. For example, if you use a regular
U.S. size electric dryer for one load a month less, it saves
more electricity than your modems, cable boxes, and all those
devices with timers in standby. However people would rather be
"green" and unplug them, instead of simply doing one load less.

Or for example microwaving your slice of quiche instead of
using a toaster oven or a regular oven to heat it up.

People here use washing machines that heat the water in them.
An average load of clothes (around 7-8 pounds) costs almost
4.5 kWh to wash. We use a larger Maytag washer and except for
bathmats and towels, cold water (which never goes below
60F anyway), doing twice as much laundry for .5kWh.

You can't just turn off the heater, as the washers are
designed to use short wash cycles is you don't heat the
water. The more you heat it, the longer it runs. You
simply can't have a long cold wash. :-(

I understand that self heating washers are now being
sold in the U.S. :-(

Geoff.

 

[John Tserkezis]

If you publish a report that claims the increase in the population
of mosquitos is due to global warming, then you get lots of relief
money.

Ah yes, forgot about that one. The old classic if you run out of ideas.

It's also a matter of sense. For example, if you use a regular
U.S. size electric dryer for one load a month less, it saves
more electricity than your modems, cable boxes, and all those
devices with timers in standby. However people would rather be
"green" and unplug them, instead of simply doing one load less.

What?! One load less of my dainty unmentionables?! I think not!

Or for example microwaving your slice of quiche instead of
using a toaster oven or a regular oven to heat it up.

Er, like pizza, it's best eaten cold. Or maybe it's just me.

People here use washing machines that heat the water in them.
An average load of clothes (around 7-8 pounds) costs almost
4.5 kWh to wash. We use a larger Maytag washer and except for
bathmats and towels, cold water (which never goes below
60F anyway), doing twice as much laundry for .5kWh.

You can't just turn off the heater, as the washers are
designed to use short wash cycles is you don't heat the
water. The more you heat it, the longer it runs. You
simply can't have a long cold wash. :-(

I understand that self heating washers are now being
sold in the U.S. :-(

We've had them here in Australia for ages, but we've always been able to
turn them off. Not a "direct" control of the heater as such, but there's
always a "cold wash" option on the buttons. In fact, I don't ever remember
NOT seeing it.

Heating-only washers would have been further killed off after the hot
water/cold water wash quality difference myth was spread around.

The 'old school' was concerned about bacteria. Too bad it never made any
difference anyway.

Along with the general trend for water heaters to have the thermostat
temperature turned down - not for power savings - but for burns safety. There
was NEVER any mention of power saving on this point because it was introduced
way before the tree huggers started whining.

 

[[email protected]]

It's worse than that. Due to the lack of knowledge of the press and the
general public, it's better to blame global warming for anything these
days.

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2007070149631.jpg

 

[mc]

For example, when the river floods, instead of blaming lack of proper

dams, maintaining pumps and so on, it's "global warming".

Or when we have 3 times as many houses using the same water supply as 10
years ago, it's "freakish drought" and "global warming." (And so forth.)

 

[Gary Tait]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but isn't the only power
consumed due to wire resistance in the primary winding of the
transformer? Seems to me that should be miniscule.

Most chargers and things these days use switch-mode supplies.
I don't know how much they draw unloaded.

FWIW, I practice unplugging my various chargers when not in use (excepting
the chager for an SLA flashlight which likes float charged). Unfortunately,
a lot of my computer system remains "on" when unused.