Wallwarts

I feel a bit stupid after reading "Anyone notice elitism..." by asking this
question: Does it damage a wall wart transformer to leave it plugged in when
not in use?

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:27:34 +0100, =?UTF-8?B?UGFsaW5kcuKYu21l?=
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Bob Tyrka wrote:
>
>> I feel a bit stupid after reading "Anyone notice elitism..." by asking this
>> question: Does it damage a wall wart transformer to leave it plugged in when
>> not in use?
>>
>>
>No, not unless you keep hitting it with the hoover...
>
>--
>Sue


Wall Warts are built for continuous duty. Like any electronic
equipment though, if they run hot (due to being overloaded, or
whatever), the life will be shortened. Also, if you have a lot of
lightning surges without any protection, you might lose one
occasionally.

Beachcomber

"Bob Tyrka" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ERwye.8$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I feel a bit stupid after reading "Anyone notice elitism..." by asking this
>question: Does it damage a wall wart transformer to leave it plugged in
>when not in use?
>
No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
they are not powering the associated equipment.

Charles Perry P.E.

Thanks to all you good-humored and knowledgeable correspondents I won't have
to lose any more sleep over those little monsters.

"Charles Perry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Bob Tyrka" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ERwye.8$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I feel a bit stupid after reading "Anyone notice elitism..." by asking
>>this question: Does it damage a wall wart transformer to leave it plugged
>>in when not in use?
>>
> No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
> they are not powering the associated equipment.
>
> Charles Perry P.E.
>
>
>

On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:18:46 -0400, "Charles Perry"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
>they are not powering the associated equipment.

Have you heard anything more about the estimate of the amount of
energy wasted annually from wall warts?
I know it was a big buzz a few years ago.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:18:46 -0400, "Charles Perry"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
>>they are not powering the associated equipment.
>
> Have you heard anything more about the estimate of the amount of
> energy wasted annually from wall warts?
> I know it was a big buzz a few years ago.

Here is a figure from one source:

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs estimate that US households
waste about $3.5 billion in electricity a year on power supply standby
losses alone.

Currently, the push by the EPA and CEC (California Energy Commission) is to
improve the efficiency of power supplies in computers and other electronic
devices (TVs, etc). They are horribly inefficient, particularly when
lightly loaded (as they almost always are).

Charles Perry P.E.

On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 08:50:41 -0400, "Charles Perry"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:18:46 -0400, "Charles Perry"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>>No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
>>>they are not powering the associated equipment.
>>
>> Have you heard anything more about the estimate of the amount of
>> energy wasted annually from wall warts?
>> I know it was a big buzz a few years ago.
>
>Here is a figure from one source:
>
> Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs estimate that US households
>waste about $3.5 billion in electricity a year on power supply standby
>losses alone.
>
>Currently, the push by the EPA and CEC (California Energy Commission) is to
>improve the efficiency of power supplies in computers and other electronic
>devices (TVs, etc). They are horribly inefficient, particularly when
>lightly loaded (as they almost always are).
>
>Charles Perry P.E.
>

Thanks, I thought you would know.
I am thinking the time may have come for a parallel low voltage system
ion houses with some standardization in low voltage appliances so we
only have a single, high efficiency supply, perhaps battery backed up.
I know there are dozens of wall warts around my house for all the
various things. I try to keep them unplugged or switched off when not
in use but it doesn't always happen. There are 5 on this PC alone.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:18:46 -0400, "Charles Perry"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >No, but keep in mind that the do consume energy while plugged in, even if
> >they are not powering the associated equipment.
>
> Have you heard anything more about the estimate of the amount of
> energy wasted annually from wall warts?
> I know it was a big buzz a few years ago.

Depends on the unit, but one with 9v DC 300ma output unloaded I tested uses
1 volt-amp. Another one used for recharging a hand vac doesn't even get the
slightest bit warm unloaded. Probably less than a watt used when unloaded.
Seems like a waste of time to even be concerned about the power drawn when
not in use.
-S

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) writes:
> Thanks, I thought you would know.
> I am thinking the time may have come for a parallel low voltage system
> ion houses with some standardization in low voltage appliances so we
> only have a single, high efficiency supply, perhaps battery backed up.
> I know there are dozens of wall warts around my house for all the
> various things. I try to keep them unplugged or switched off when not
> in use but it doesn't always happen. There are 5 on this PC alone.

For PC-related things, I often grab the power for ancilliary
devices from the PC's power supply. That works fine for some
external disks, scanners, and ethernet hubs I've used, and it
also means they go off when you switch the PC off. It's a
non-starter for some external modems and printers though, as
neither external power supply terminal is anywhere near 0V
relative to the connection to the PC, so they have to have
isolated power supplies.

--
Andrew Gabriel