Thought AT&T's
Zero charger was going to cruise along with no competition? No sirree. Ventev has shown up here in Las Vegas to launch its (seemingly superior) competitor, the EcoCharge. Designed to (nearly) eliminate vampire power draw when no device is connected, this here charger one-ups those "other guys" by having room to invigorate a
pair of mini-USB / micro-USB devices (one of those, plus a full-size USB at the top), and best of all, it won't take up 1.5, 2 or 2.5 slots on your power strip. The company claims that its approach to cutting down on
vampire power drain -- the energy that's wasted when you leave a charger plugged in with no peripheral connected -- is better than other solutions out there, as a unit that
completely kills the power when it's left alone requires an on / off switch or a "wake up" period before it storms into action. The EcoCharge continually pulls 0.025 watts, while Energy Star chargers can go up to 0.3 watts when not in use. Oh, and did we mention that it's shipping right now? Indeed it is -- in micro-USB or mini-USB flavors for $29.99 a pop.
We stopped by the company's booth tonight at CTIA's MobileFocus event, and we learned that an Apple-centric version is just weeks away from shipping. As you'd expect, the bottom plug will be a dock connector, though the USB port behind the flip panel will remain all the same. We're told that the company will be doing its best to get the charger into Apple's sales channels, but you'll be forced by pay $5 more for that version over the other guys. Guess that
10 percent Made for iPhone tax hasta be paid by someone, right?
posted March 24th 2010 12:49AM
Twilight fans will be drawn to this due to its "Vampire draw"
@abedinthehouse Yes, but somehow I can't picture a bunch of preteen Edward Cullen fangirls sucking face with a life-size cutout of the Ventev EcoCharge in the quiet solace of their bedrooms.
@InspectorEngadget
Heh +1
Damn Apple!
Greedy bastards
this is just dumb, why it does not have two USB slots and cable I can unplug?
Belkin Dual USB does much better job
@Jimbojones
Wouldn't it charge slower if you just had USB plugged into a USB brick? Plus I'd prefer a hard wired plug anyway as it wouldn't unplug as easily.
I'm afraid I don't understand how this works. So you buy a device (either Mini or Micro USB) and it has a non-removable USB power plug with that head. That part makes sense in a silly way, I agree that with @Jimbojones that there should be just a Belkin style standard USB.
But it also has a standard USB port to plug in, say, a dock connector USB cable and charge an iPod? Or am I missing something?
@bobp
It has one standard USB, and one hard-wired cable with fixed port.
So to be clear, you can use it as a USB brick with any USB charger cable.
"best of all, it won't take up 1.5, 2 or 2.5 slots on your power strip"
the problem with that, you need a power strip with 90 degree plugs. it will still take up 1.5 (maybe 2) outlets for the other power strips. i've got a combination of different power strips
I was curious as to whether the iPod version would cost more due to an ACTUAL fee that Apple charges, or whether it's just more expensive because the product won't sell as well as a generic USB charger.
According to one source from 2006, the fee went from 1.5% to 10% to $4 flat:
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/iPods_And_Portable_Players/Accessories/B8G3H6R6
I'm not clear on whether chargers are treated differently from products that use more advanced dock functionality.
Wired in 2008 seems to support a fee still existing:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/03/dock-still-dark/
And it sounds like the industry standard is more like 1-2% (from the first source) rather than 10% or the possible $4 flat fee.
This is utterly pointless. Saving at most .275 W of electricity, assuming a very expensive electiricty rate (.40$/KWhr), you'd have to leave the damn thing plugged in for about 30 years to make up the cost of it. Unplugging a charger is a pretty simple thing to do if the pennies a year it costs you has a symbolic value, but many phones tell you to unplug the charger, and judging by the piezoelectric buzz my Nokia charger emits when plugged into the mains but not a phone, it barely uses any power at all.
@Rob22
Double-checked your math... :) Yup...
30 YEARS!!!
Too bad that in 3 years they'll have nano-USB plugs... And all the over-concerned "green" citizens will continue buying massive amounts of "green" products replacing the piles of "green" products with "greener" chargers. All the while the dump fields will be filling with the disposable and ever-so-greener adapters for obsolete greener-than-an-hour-ago products.
@Rob22 Came here to say the same thing. Leaving a phone charger on for a year is the energy equivalent to 1 hot bath or driving for 3 minutes. It will save you about £3 in electricity per year.
Excellent source: withouthotair.com
@Rob22
Multiply that amount of energy usage by a city of 10,000,000 people and you might understand why Vampire energy usage is a problem. Then multiply that again, by the dozen or so other devices around the house that rely on vampire electricity.
While I agree, the cost of the device is too high, and it's not worth buying it as a separate item if you already have a charger, this type of technology should be incorporated in ALL chargers - be they phone or powertools or other.
They really should be updating the Energy Star ratings and making them more stringent.
@Hazdaz You make a great point. It's not going to make a difference by one person changing their actions. However, if this type of technology starts getting incorporated into boxed chargers than the entire world will benefit in the long run. Very cool.
@Rob22
The point should not be to replace your existing chargers, but to buy greener alternatives when you need new ones. That said, the cost of the chargers should be competitive with traditional chargers to make the choice easy. Then still remains the obstacle of education.
The other points made in this thread are important too, these should be available as a USB brick in addition to dedicated plug type. Some people don't have the USB adapters, but most do and it would lower overall cost, material waste and make the device more future proof. If they want to be green they should think about landfills at least as much as the power savings.
@wraith404
I just noticed that the second charging facility is a USB port, so the charger is a USB brick intrinsically. Best of both worlds I guess, I just didn't look at the pictures closely enough.
I ran the numbers.....it would not save enough electricity to pay for itself through its lifetime. Assuming you are replacing 2 old adapters that meet current standards it would take about 72 days running side by side to save the first kilowatt hour compared to the new style. As a result, it wouldn't be worth the cost to replace an existing one if it is still working based on actual evergy savings. That said, if you have need of a new AC to USB power outlet, it does makes sense to buy this one for reducing unnecessary energy waste.
1000 watts / 0.575 = 1739 hours / 24 = 72 days for the old adapter to consume 1 kilowatt hour more than the new design.
Old: 1000 watts / 0.6 = 1666.7 hours to the kilowatt
New: 1000 watts / .025 = 40,000 hours to the kilowatt
Old: 1666.7 / 24 = 69 days
New: 40,000 / 24 = 1667 days or 4.4 years
So over the same period of time (4.4 years) you will save 23 kilowatt hours or about 1.50 to 3 dollars. So it would take 44-88 years to pay for itself assuming it stays at $30 per adapter.
I assumed 7-14 cents a kw hour in the savings calculations.
@miniskunk
But if you need a second charger for your house, it gives you a better option.
Congratulations you finally got me to tear into this kill a watt Christmas Gift I've had in my closet for over 2 years so I can observe this vampire draw.
Hmm my Kill-A-Watt showed my Apple iPhone charger uses 0 volts/watts when the iPhone isn't attached and 120 volts/0 watts (and 0 kwh) when attached. So I agree with miniskunk this ecocharge isn't a money saving investment.