Leech Plug disconnects when your gadget is charged, does Ma Earth a favor
By Darren Murph 
posted February 22nd 2010 8:05AM
posted February 22nd 2010 8:05AM
[Thanks, Kevin]
posted February 22nd 2010 8:05AM
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Waaaay too much effort just to curb a minuscule amount of vampire current...
@Dreamscape86 I agree. Plug one of these in, and forget it: http://www.igo.com/Other-Power/Power-Smart-Wall/invt/pm000120004&bklist=
@Dreamscape86
Charging cord nailed by cat.
@Dreamscape86
agree.
das ist nicht gut!
I wonder if the cost of the extra parts, etc, outweigh the cost of the saved electricity?
@Freakin Ijit If not, maybe electricity is too cheap.
@CRA1G
insert "environmental" then, before both instances of the word "cost" above, greenie.
@dantzig
This device probably expends more "environmental cost" to make than it will ever recover in its lifetime of use.
@Freakin Ijit But it's tax deductible!
That's really neat. But what I'd like to see is an iPod dock that once the iPod is charged, it shoots it up like a toaster.... and maybe it could come with a case for the iPod that, once in mid-air, it opens a parachute so that the iPod lands softly...
@eGGnext ...And it could land on you and wake you up in the morning! This is a great idea. Really on to something there.
This seems excessively complicated. Instead of ejecting a cord connection, why not just turn off an electromechanical switch in the device to terminate the current draw?
@teuron
I was thinking exactly the same thing... did they seriously not consider this as a possibility? o.O
@teuron Because it's about 263% more fun this way. It also gives a visual clue to whether your device has finished charging like this.
Usually when I charge my phone I want it to be at 100% when I unplug it to go out.
Wouldn't that defeat some of the purpose? I'm just saying that since it spits out the cord wouldn't the phone start using up its own power? So if someone forgot they plugged it in or it was in another room they could potentially find the phone hours later with the same amount of juice (or less) it had when they decided to charge it; especially if the rooms in your house were carpeted you might not hear it. Granted the phone probably uses a small amount so you wouldn't suffer too much but still. Maybe if this device made an audio alert other than hearing the cord hit the floor it would be better.
So the phone (device being charged) isn't sucking down vampire current but the wall adapter that's still plugged into the wall still is...am I missing something here?
@Chaosdivine
I agree, it has a timer circuit in it according to the article, so it must draw a tiny bit or electricity!
@Chaosdivine If it's like my "Belkin Conserve" power strip (which keeps listen for RF commands when off), then the power draw is minimal: not even enough to register with a KillAWatt.
Is that phone a Sciphone N19? looks to me like it... :-D
Saving the earth has become so cliche... lets be honest, the only reason we buy transformers that shut down when not charging something is to save electricity, which saves us bucks off of our electric bill. Of course, who says we can't also don that green earth halo in the process? Why not.
But a transformer that literally unlplugs itself? Gimmicky; there are ones that do it electronically. I guess it could be a conversation starter if you had guests over and suddenly a plug falls onto the floor. "It's okay, it's supposed to do that." "Really? ... Strange."
I'd get one of these and tell my family to use it, then set up a hidden camera to catch their reaction when it scares the hell out of them at 3am.
it would be 1000% cooler if it spit it out slowly and made a "bleh" vomit sound.
Won't the "electromechanicals" actually draw more than a modern AC adapter? And won't that plug still plugged in still draw power?
I really don't see the point.
I think this would scare the hell out of my pets.
Screamer.
I, for one, welcome our new device unplugging overlords
This would startle my dog - Thus, I would never use this after 11pm :)
I would be impressed if it would plug in automatically when my phone is dead out of batteries
As far as I'm concerned, the whole cell phone vampire power draw is a myth. Seriously.
I own one of the kill-a-watt AC meters and have tested the chargers of my HTC Touch Pro 2 and my old Treo 750.
Power draw of the chargers when plugged in, but no phone attached, was 0. Nada, zilch, nothing. Power draw of charger with fully charged HTC TP2 attached, .01 amps. Flipping the meter to display watts shows 0. So if there is a power draw, it is so minute that I think your better spending your eco dollars elsewhere. Where's our cheap LED light bulbs? Now those would make a nice dent in my home's power usage.
In my testing, the biggest power offenders I found were my HP printer and Directv satellite receiver. Both devices pulled the same amount of electricity while turned off as when they were turned on. The "off" button just turned off the status LEDs and displays.
@thornd7 Kill-A-Watts don't go very low. A device that reads 0W on a Kill-A-Watt can still cost you $2-3 per year if you leave it plugged in. So if you have 12 of them, that can be $2/mo.
If you want to measure lower power devices with a Kill-A-Watt, you need to leave it plugged in for a while, like 10 hours or more, then press the kWh button and divide.
@spin cycle
Okay, I'll try to see if a couple of hours registers power draw better.
My point, though, is that buying a pack of CCFL bulbs off amazon is going to give a much better eco bang for the buck. And overall, I disagree with the portrayal of cell phone chargers as gluttonous power wasters to the point that the government runs PSA ads trying to guilt-trip people into constantly unplugging them.
Do not want.
Hilarious. I made basically the same thing for the ITP Winter Show in December. It was more an art project spotlighting energy usage and showing how much effort it takes for electricity to remove itself when you could just pull the plug. It played Sprach Zarathustra while it unplugged itself. If anyone cares: http://un-plug.com