Comments on: Smart Strips are REALLY smart!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:57:00 +0000

Hello! I’m from SmartHomeUSA .. we also sell them and I am the person responsible for testing any returned SmartStrips. I have two things to add to your post .. 1) They very rarely good bad! Most of the time the user doesn’t understand how to adjust the sensitivity properly. 2) The SmartStrip ships with no extra plastic, except for a small plastic piece that covers the sharp plugs of the power cord… it is in that cardboard box you mentioned, with one cardboard strip inside. Very minimal.

Hope that helps & Thanks for the post

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:42:00 +0000

Halloween Candy, I always liked Smarties, they come in Cardboard boxes (even tubes (though with a plastic lid with a handy letter fashioned into it)). But I am sure the blue ones have been associated with some mind bending drug, or is that just the blue candy telling me to say this!!

I had a similar device in Germany in 2000, i bought it at Tchibo (that wacky shop that only stocked an item for 2 weeks, created some impulse buying panics). It a little plastic screw that adjusted its sensitivity for the master load as all TV / VCR standby loads were different, tweak this a little for the TV in standby and hey presto, all other items were turned when the TV went to standby.

Gave this away to a friend in Baku, my last 230v country, been looking for something similar since.

By: Earth

Earth — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:26:00 +0000

I came upon your post via Grist, and I wanted to be sure to abide by your admonishment to comment before moving along.

So, thanks for your post! I’m presently weighing whether to add smart power strips to our Earth Aid Kits, and I found your discussion on the topic – especially from the plastic perspective – very helpful. I’d be grateful for any thoughts you might have on our concept and efforts. Our consumer site is http://www.earthaidkit.com and our company site is http://www.earthaidenterprises.com .

By: Beth in the Fake Plastic Fish Tank

Beth in the Fake Plastic Fish Tank — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:12:00 +0000

Hi DuGlass. I'm not sure about your TV. I don't use any settings like that on my TV. At all.

For a lot of people, everything to do with channels (time, date, skipped channels) is either done through the cable box or the VCR or the TIVO or whatever piece of equipment is used to record programs. The TV is just a passive receiver. Are these things built into your TV set?

For myself, I don't record shows very often, but when I do, I record them on my computer. I use the computer like I would use a TIVO or VCR. It's got Windows Media Center built in.

I can understand needing to leave one piece of equipment on... whichever component it is that keeps track of channels and is programmed to record. But there are so many other things that can be turned off when not in use.

By: DuGlass

DuGlass — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:52:00 +0000

OK, I've gone over the description of the smart strip twice -- I still don't see how it's a timesaver for many common setups.

Let's say we're using the strip you described your receiver/dvd/cd is plugged into. You turn off the receiver; the tv is turned off, too. When you turn it back on your tv has lost any settings most people use at least SOME of the time: time; date,;blocked channels; skip selected channels; etc. Most people would like that stuff enough to avoid this power strip as a result.

If you plug the tv into an always-hot plug to avoid this you're missing out on the power savings you wanted in the first place.

Am I missing something? Thanks!

By: Timothy Latz

Timothy Latz — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:39:00 +0000

Beth, I saw the Smart Strips product mentioned in the November/December issue of GOOD Magazine, which if you haven’t checked it out, is a great read..

They also have a website at http://www.goodmagazine.com/

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:58:00 +0000

Since today is Hallowe'en, I am suddenly aware of all the plastic packaging on the crap candy that my duaghter insists we have to hand out so the house won't be TP'ed. (I'm still working on that one, and would love to hand out apples or homemade cookies instead.)

It's too late for this year, but next year I'd welcome suggestions for Hallowe'en treats that aren't wrapped in plastic AND won't go straight into the garbage when parents check their kid's treat bags.

And I'll have to see if we have Smart Strips in Canada!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:03:00 +0000

I purchased the basic 60 watt CFLs at Whole Foods in cardboard packing. I think they also had 75 watt.

By: Radical Garbage Man

Radical Garbage Man — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:38:00 +0000

SMART! It sounds like a key to this product working is also having smart users, like yourself, who can strategize their power needs. I did something similar with a plain old dumb strip to my TV. My first draft had all TV-related power plugged into a power strip that I turned off when done with the TV. The downside was that it made my cable box operate all screwy, so I conceded and gave the box a separate plug so it could continue to do whatever it is that cable boxes do when they're turned off.

This is far, far better than my old wasteful ways, but not nearly as cool as your new toy!

Have fun plotting other energy efficiency means.