A recent study conducted by the Danish Electricity Saving Trust shows 38% of a business’s electricity consumption comes after hours with no one there to enjoy it. Phantom energy, that being used by computers and printers to sit in standby mode and always-on air-conditioning systems are the major culprits.

Peter Maagøe, a consultant for the trust, says "Much of it is simply wasted. It's money poured straight down the drain."

	auto saver Belkin Power-strip in action

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Denmark communication chief, Henrik Kirkeskov, told Jyllands-Posten that in October 2008 testing began with Danish Electricity Trust to try and reduce its electricity consumption by 10%.

Hp installed light sensitive switches (along with low energy bulbs), a ventilation control system and auto power-saver strips.

After one year Hewlett-Packard had reduced its electricity consumption by 20%, equal to a savings of 500,000 Danish Krone (67,000 Euros) annually.

Peter Maagøe says, "It's really easy to put the necessary arrangements into effect, and there is a lot of money to save. But man-hours need to be set aside to do the work."

I had not heard of auto power-saver strips before about a week ago with the announcement of the Belkin Conserve Surge with Timer.

	Conserve Surge Belkin with desktop on/off

This power-strip not only protects against power surges, but also saves money by shutting down anything plugged into it based on an 11 hour timer.

For businesses looking for a smart system to cut phantom energy drain this is probably the easiest upgrade to make.

Unfortunately that 11 hour timer is set, so if you happen to be staying late and the ‘warning LED’ starts to blink, pushing the button to save your computer from shutting down and losing your spreadsheets will reset to another 11 hours.

Eventually everyone’s computers will all be out of sink and start shutting down in the middle of the day, someone needs to make an auto power-strip synchronizer now. The Belkin auto power-strip sells for 50 USD from their site, but there are some offers for around $35 on the net.

Via: denmark.dk