HiSaver – Energy Saving Powerbar for PCs

The HiSaver is a surge protected mains-power strip designed to be used by your PC and up to 4 of its peripherals. The device connects to a motion sensor which allows it to cut all power to the 4 peripheral points when no motion has been detected for over 10 minutes.

The HiSaver has been designed to help save energy by turning off a PC's electrical peripherals when the computer is not in use. Often a computer is left on for a reason for example to run a virus scan or when compiling code, the peripherals to the computer at these times are not required, there is no need for devices such as speakers, a printer, or even the monitor to be working while the computer is left unattended. These devices during these times are drawing a lot of electricity to keep running, the energy that is needlessly wasted.

The HiSaver has been designed to make sure that the power supply to the computer is not interrupted, but that when no motion has been sensed for over 10 minutes the power to the 4 points on the PowerBar for peripherals is cut. This allows you to save energy and thus money without having to unplug devices or having to remember to turn each one off individually. The motion sensor has a motion range that is 4 m (13 ft) long and 2 m (6.5 ft) wide. Most of us will move a little every 10 minutes when sat at a computer, even if only to move the mouse, some though may find that the 10 minute period is not long enough.

The HiSaver also features very high surge protection at 3044 joules to help protect your delicate electrical systems. The device should help reduce your energy usage without impacting the use of your computing systems. There is some debate however that the drain of power to reactivate some devices (such as printers) would drain more electricity than saved if the period of absence was short. Overall the system should make a difference, especially for those that are prone to leave a computer and all its systems running while being absent for hours at a time, it may though not be suitable for those that frequently leave a room throughout a day for short amounts of time.

Source: Tomauri