Eco Button – A Gadget to Save Energy
I was watching The Gadget Show a few weeks ago and they had a green challenge to try and reduce energy use. Next thing, Janette Whitney blogged about ‘Green’ Grants for Business so I thought I’d take a small step and try out one of the gadgets. One which reduces the energy your computer uses when you wander off to do something else.
I bought an Eco Button and I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now. All incredibly straightforward – here’s what you do:
- Buy an Eco Button.
- Plug it into your computer (USB plug in – nice and simple).
- Download & install the software.
- If you’re like me then look up what rate your energy provider charges for a unit of electricity and type it into the setup screen (or just use the default value if you can’t be bothered).
That’s it – all set up.
Next, whenever you wander off – to make a cup of tea, take a phone call, answer the door, have lunch, whatever… just press the big green button. Your PC then goes into a low power mode. When you come back, hit any key on the keyboard and this is what happens:
- Your PC wakes up far faster than usual – marvellous.
- An eco screen shows you how much money you’ve saved today and so far, as well as the CO2 you’ve saved.
- Press any other key and you’re up and working again.
Fantastic – I reckon it’s worth it just for my PC to wake up so quickly.
So, my recommendation -
Buy an Eco Button now!
