On average Australian homes waste 10% of their total energy use on standby power.

The Jackson Green Energy Saving Powerboard – Master/Slave (PT9778) is a great way to save on standby power usage at home or at work. You can pick these up for around $30. The powerboard itself uses less than 1W of power and provides surge protection

Here’s how it works:

Plug one device into the ‘Master’ socket and related devices into the ‘Slave’ sockets. When the device in the master socket is turned off a few seconds later the slave sockets will be switched off by the powerboard to save on standby power usage of those devices. There is also a ‘Normal’ socket for plugging in a device that should not be powered down when the master device is turned off.

I have a few of these powerboards at home here is how I have them setup:

Living Room:

• Master socket: LCD Television
• Slave sockets: Bluray player, sound system and Apple TV
• Normal socket: AirPort Express (because I want my WiFi network extended all the time for better coverage upstairs)

When I turn the TV on,the Bluray, Sound system & Apple TV now have power available. When I turn the TV off they then all get turned off at the powerboard automatically so they aren’t using any standby power

Home Office:

• Master socket: iMac 24″
• Slave sockets: Extra 24″ Display, External Speakers
• Normal socket: Printer/Scanner/Copier (These devices should not really be powered up and down often, set their internal sleep settings to save power)

When I turn my iMac on power is restored the second monitor and the external speakers. When I shutdown my iMac the external monitor and speakers are powered off at the powerboard.

When I had an energy audit done it was found the external speakers could use up to $50 of energy per year in standby mode.

Why not think about how one of these devices could save you money in your home or work place