Standby Kill Chip: The End of Vampire Power?

December 4th, 2008 by Ariel Schwartz

We’ve seen lots of tools recently to stop vampire power— the power used by electronics when they’re off and still plugged in— but the Standby Kill Chip may be the best. The chip is installed directly in electronics or power strips. It uses an algorithm that senses when an electronic device is in standby mode and shuts it off.

Of course, computer users who actually want their laptop to stay in standby mode might not appreciate this, but the chip’s inventors say their product works in any device featuring a standby mode— including cell phones, TVs, microwave ovens, and washing machines.

Best of all, appliances don’t need to go through start-up mode when they’re reactivated. When the “on” button is pressed, they go directly to standby.

The Standby Kill Chip is still in prototype mode, and is currently being tested by NH Hotels SA of Spain in 50,000 hotel rooms. If it works, you can bet I’ll have a bunch of these in my house.

Photo Credit: NREL









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