Bought a $35 smart power strip last spring and it cut my electric bill by 12 bucks a month

I got one of those TP-Link Kasa strips with individual outlet control and set timers for my TV, computer, and chargers so they fully power down at night. Has anyone else seen real savings from vampire power or was this just a fluke for me?

3 comments

3 Comments

anna4911mo ago

Gotta call this one out. The math doesn't add up. Power strips don't save you $12 a month unless you're running a crypto mine in your living room. The real savings are more like a couple bucks at most.

diana_kim661mo ago

Saw a YouTube video from an electrical engineer who actually tested this with a power meter. He found that most modern electronics in standby mode only draw about 1-3 watts each. So even if you have 10 things plugged in, you're looking at maybe saving 30 watts total by turning off the strip. That works out to around $3-4 a month at average electricity rates, not $12. The big savings only kick in if you've got older devices that draw more power when off, like an old cable box or a stereo from the 90s. Still worth doing, but the $12 claim is marketing hype.

the_susan1mo ago

Diana's right about the actual numbers from testing, but here's the thing that video might not mention. That 1-3 watt draw per device is for things that are truly off, but a lot of "standby" modes are actually keeping the device ready to go, like smart TVs that listen for voice commands or game consoles that download updates. Those can pull 10-15 watts easy, especially if they're doing background stuff. Multiply that across a whole house with a couple streaming boxes, a cable modem, a router, and some chargers left plugged in, and you could be looking at a solid 100 watts just doing nothing. That gets closer to the $10-12 range depending on your local rates. Still marketing hype to make a clicky headline, but the principle isn't totally wrong for heavier setups.