1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: tech stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hey there, 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Poulette. I'm 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: an editor here at how Stuff Works, and with me 6 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: is wonderful writer Jonathan's Strickland. How today we're going to 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: be talking about some of those energy suckers in your house, 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: better known as your electronics. Some of you may not 9 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: know this, so there was an article in Forbes that 10 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: said the average American household spends one thousand, four hundred 11 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: dollars each year on energy bills. That's a that's a 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: pretty hefty chunk of change. Well, it's not surprising. I mean, 13 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: if you think about it, a good sized plasma TV 14 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: can use up to fifty watts U Xbox seven, PlayStation 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: three seven watts. I mean you know those that that's 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: not an h in substantial amount of electricity there. Yeah. Actually, 17 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: there was a recent UH story published by Choice, which 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: is a consumer group in Australia that specifically looked at 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: game consoles and computers and UH they found that even 20 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: if you are running a PS three on idol. So, 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: so the machine is on but you're not doing anything. 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: It runs on about a thirty one point seventy four 23 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: killer what hours per week, which they figured out was 24 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: five times more than your medium sized refrigerator. So and 25 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: if you're playing a game, well watch out because it 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: consumes even more power. The we by the way, was 27 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: the least taxing on your energy. It ran on three 28 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: point one four killer what hours even if you're playing 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: a game, so one tenth of what the PlayStation three 30 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: runs on. Yeah, you know a lot of these machines too, 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: I mean the WE. I own a we um and 32 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: if you leave it Internet enabled so that they can 33 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: pull down messages from your friends, it's on even when 34 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: it's not on, you know where you actually see something 35 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,559 Speaker 1: on the screen. So it's you know, you may forget 36 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: about these things, but they're always draining some kind of electricity. Actually, 37 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: a lot of electronics do that. Um. There's even a 38 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,839 Speaker 1: term for it. There are several, in fact, but the 39 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: most popular one is probably vampire power. Uh. A vampire 40 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: electronic device is one that is going to draw power 41 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: even if the device itself has been powered off. So 42 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: even televisions do this. That's mostly because UH TVs need 43 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: a little time to warm up when you turn them on, 44 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: and by draining this a little bit amount of power, 45 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: it decreases the amount of time it takes for a 46 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: television to completely power up. So um, so there's reasoning 47 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: behind it, but it means that even if you've turned 48 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: off everything in your house, things are still drawing power. 49 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: That's true, and um you know, there are a lot 50 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: of ways that you can combat this. You can always 51 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: unplug your your devices. You can turn off a power 52 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: strip if if your TV and video game consoles are 53 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: plugged into a power strip. But some manufacturers are looking 54 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: into ways to cut down the amount of electricity that 55 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: they use even when they're on. For example, of when 56 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan and I went to the Consumer Electronics Show earlier 57 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: this year, we saw television called the Eco TV offered 58 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: by Phillips, and it's an an l C D t V. 59 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: UH They use a lot of light to power the screen. 60 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: But what the Eco TV does it measures the amount 61 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: of ambient light in the room, so it can adjust 62 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: how much light it puts out to power the image 63 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: on the screen based on the amount of light that's 64 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: coming in the room, So it can kind of you know. Yeah, 65 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: like if you if you watch television in the dark room, 66 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: you don't need as much power to to make the 67 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: image visible. So uh so watching, uh watching those movies 68 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: in a nice little dark home theater system is of 69 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: energy efficient in fact, so hey, I'm what do you know? 70 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: I'm energy efficient because that's the way I prefer to 71 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: watch my movies and television. Uh. And in the United States, 72 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: the there's there's even a thing called energy Star. Now 73 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: energy Star that's sort of a designation about if something 74 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,119 Speaker 1: has the energy Star label on it, that means that 75 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: it meets certain standards which are constantly being revised, and 76 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: by revised, they're usually getting better rather than worse, which 77 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: is a relief in the United States. Really true true? 78 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: Um yeah. As a matter of fact, there are a 79 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: number of uh different kinds of ratings that you can 80 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: get in addition to Energy Star, the manufacturers coalitions have 81 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: put together some some different ones too. Um. But basically, 82 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: if you can see the energy Star rating on the 83 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: side of a box, you know that it is meeting 84 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: minimum Environmental Protection Agency standards for uh, you know, energy usage, 85 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: right and uh And as our article points out in 86 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: two thousand seven, the Americans using energy Star products prevented 87 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: forty million metric tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. 88 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: And that's that's that's significant. Yeah, that is that is 89 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: fairly significant. UM. One of the ways one of the 90 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: kinds of machines that use an awful lot of electricity, 91 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: and a lot of machines aren't energy Star certified. Our computers, 92 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: computer monitors, yes, computer monitors, depending on the monitor. A 93 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: lot of the CRT s, the old style big tube monitors, those, um, 94 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: those you use up a lot more electricity in general 95 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: than you are flat panels. UM. But you know, we 96 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: looked at several of the different machines out there, um, 97 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: and there are some that are are starting to come down. Like, um, 98 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: there's a new uh, a new computer offered by Cranberry 99 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: that only uses nine wants of electricity And a story 100 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: that has been in the news and set lately about 101 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: the Cherry Poal, which is a kind of cloud computer 102 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: very similar to the Cranberry and it only uses two 103 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: wats of electricity. Right, it really cuts down the moving parts, 104 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: you know, things like they get rid of things like 105 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: the fan UH and hard drives, the spinning hard drives 106 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: and that really helps cut down on power consumption. Uh. 107 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: And of course we there are other things that we 108 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: can talk about when we're talking about energy efficiency. We 109 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: can talk about handheld devices and alternative means of powering them, 110 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: like solar panels. For example. You could have a solar 111 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: powered energy source to charge your iPod for example. True. 112 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: And there's another example that we used, the Nokia Eco Sensor, 113 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: which is a UM sort of prototype, I guess, And 114 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: it uses a combination solar panel that you can wear 115 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: on your wrist, but it's combined with a kinetic energy generator. 116 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: So if you're, you know, waving your arms wildly like 117 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: I am right now, UM, you can charge up your 118 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: pd A as you are are gesticulating while they are 119 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: making your friends wonder if you're insane. You go, no, 120 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: I'm just charging my p A right. In a related story, 121 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: I read a great in The Independent, as a newspaper 122 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: in the United Kingdom, written by Adrian so about she 123 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: She proposed a certain kind of energy generating piece of clothing. 124 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: We're talking about a They call it the bionic bra. Uh. 125 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: It's a bra that would harness the power of moving 126 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: breasts to generate electricity um, which is a brilliant although 127 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: as NPRS wait wait, don't tell me pointed out, that 128 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: might mean that guys start referring to women by how 129 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: long a song they'd be able to play. So if 130 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: it powers down completely, do you get memory loss? Ha 131 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: ha ha ha um. But to be serious, she was. 132 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: She was asking actual engineers about the the feasibility of this, 133 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: and some of them surprisingly said it's completely feasible. Uh. 134 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: There was an engineer named Wong at Georgia Tech, which 135 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: is just down the road from us, who his team's 136 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: working on creating fabric made out of nano wires that 137 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: can transform friction into electricity, so the more you move around, 138 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,119 Speaker 1: the more electricity you would generate. And he was thinking 139 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: of using it in things like T shirts and stuff 140 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: like that, you know, things that things that you would 141 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: wear that you would you know, just have a lot 142 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: of movement in general. And he said, bras are are 143 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: a legitimate use for this technology. So we may actually 144 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: see a broad generating electricity soon or not see it. 145 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: I mean it would probably be under clothes, so we 146 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't actually anyway, you know what I mean. I 147 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: feel like i've stumbled into some kind of booby trap. Yes, 148 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,199 Speaker 1: I would say, so, really it looks like, rather than 149 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,079 Speaker 1: you know, just looking at ways to cut down on 150 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: the amount of electricity they use manufacturers, you're also looking 151 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: into alternative ways to power that. So maybe through the 152 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: combination of these things, we can reduce the load of 153 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: electricity that we're using from from generating fossil fuels and 154 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: are not generating fossil fuels. Generating electricity from fossil fuels. 155 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,239 Speaker 1: Right in the United States generates more than its electricity 156 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: from coal, so that would be I would be a 157 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: big improvement to find alternative ways of generating electricity. So 158 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: now you'll shift from that to watching people, you know, 159 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: flip and flop their way down the sidewalk as they 160 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,119 Speaker 1: go to work and try to listen to their iPods. 161 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: I don't see this conversation getting any better. We might 162 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 1: want to end this now. So if you're interested in 163 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: reading more about that, we have a brand new article 164 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: called how energy efficient Electronics Work. It's available today on 165 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Thanks for listening for more 166 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Does it how 167 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com? Let us know what you think 168 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com. 169 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 170 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: It's ready, Are you