Customer Reviews

Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 10-Outlet

5 star:		(105)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Works perfectly! I'm sure I'll start seeing savings right away since I have plethora of equipment. Setup is simple, just plug the TV i it into the controlling outlet and then the DVD player, xbox, etc... into the switching outlets. Now when I power off/on the TV everything shuts off/on with it. The nice thing about the power strip is that it has a couple of always-on outlets for recording devices - so they don't lose the date and time. This is a well thought out and simple product.

If you want something to help you save a few buck on your energy bill while also prolonging the life of Equipment, this is the tool for you.

I had an idea what this SmartStrip could do but i really wanted to see it for myself. This guy is as simple as it sounds and just as convient.

You have 1 outlet that you plug your switching device in. The switching device is the device that when you turn on or off turns everything else on or off. You also have 2 Always ON outlets (for DVR boxes or Broadband Modem, etc). And 4 "Controlled" outlets, 1 of which is an extra wide one. Now, the 1 outlet for the switching device is an Always ON outlet.

There is a little knob on the side for helping you tweek the switching setting that power off everything else when you put the main device into a low power state or off. Because some things draw power even when turned off so you may need to tweek it.

I bought this to try it out at work. If you want something to definitely help at home or at the office, this is perfect. At work, i had my Laptop at the switching port. I plugged the Monitor, the Speakers, the Desk Lamp, my cell chargers, any and all accessories into the controlled ports. I tweeked the knob on the side so that when I put my laptop into Standby, that it will also shut off everything else as well. To tweek it, you must put the computer into Standby mode and adjusted the knob until all the devices turn off.

This is great because the moment i shutdown the computer at night, it turns everything off and i don't have to forget about turning anything off. All that littles of electricity its saving is great.

You could easily use it at home. You can have it setup where your TV is the switch, your DVR is in the Always ON, your DVD, VCR, Game Consoles, Stereo, Home Theater, etc are all plugged into the Controlled Ports, So that the moment you turn the TV off, everything else turns off. No more nagging the kids to make sure they turned everything else, no need to round through remotes to make sure everything else is off.

The price is right as well, you are going to pay about the same price for something that also does about the same amount of Surge Protection, so why not get something that will save you in long running cost as well. It could pay for itself in the first year alone.

We love this product and it works well.

My issue is with the description on the box of how much money using this device can save. By their figures, the device, when used with an "average" computer system, saves 113 KWH per month; at 15 cents/kwh (about what we pay in the Philadelphia area) that would be about $203/year.

We have a typical 3-year-old Dell Dimension desktop computer, LCD monitor, printer, sound system, and DSL modem that together consume about 14 watt hrs. in standby (I checked with a Kill-A-Watt meter). Using the LCG3 reduces the standby power draw to 1 watt hr. So, assuming 12 hrs. standby/day x 13 watts saved/hr. x 365 days x 15 cents/kwh gives an annual savings estimate of about $8.50/year (for 57 kwh/year saved), a much more realistic $ savings estimate for today's computers.

However, we bought this smart strip to help reduce electricity demand and greenhouse gases from power plants, so perhaps the most important benefits aren't strictly financial. And electricity prices have nowhere to go but up.

After hearing about the "vampire" effect of leaving things plugged in, I ordered two of these thinking I could use one for the living room and one for the home office. I couldn't get either of them to work with my computer even after calling tech support and adjusting the sensitivity settings.

Oh, I also purchased a Kill-A-Watt meter after the fact to measure this vampire effect and I was shocked at how LITTLE energy all these appliances use in the off position. Most of my appliances and electronic devices didn't even register a tenth of a watt while in the off/standby position. I measured my whole home theater system with my former power strip. All of the electronic devices combined barely registered a watt.

So, I could go on about what works and what doesn't with this product, but the bottom line is that it really isn't worth the extra money. Remember, having this thing shut your electronics down by powering off another device is like pulling the plug of each device out of the wall. There are many modern electronics that are not designed to be turned off in that manner.

This thing is fine now that I have worked around all the kinks, but I don't believe I am saving any money and I would not recommend this to anyone. A good surge protector is all anyone needs.

Hey, saving every bit of energy helps, right? The Smart Strip is one tool to help your household become more energy efficient! I purchased mine for my computer after reading about it in Money Magazine. Set up is easy, basically just plug your computer into the control plug and then plug any peripherals into the auto-switching plugs. Doing this allows you to use your computer to control power on/off of all devices. Very nice, simple and convenient. Cost is about $30 and, from what I've read in various media, it should pay for itself in a year. Not a bad investment to help save the environment.

I should mention that we thought the strip wasn't working when we first set it up. Do note that there is a sensitivity adjustment dial on the strip. You have to fiddle with that to ensure that all of the devices power on/off with your main device. Thing to do is just turn off the main device and then turn the dial until all other devices shut off.

Now, I will say that my boyfriend refuses to use one of these on his home theater system. It has to do with the memory functions on his receiver and the fact that he uses his Playstation 3 to add processing power to the cancer research effort (Folding @ Home). So, that may be something to think about. If you're going to lose all of your presets when you turn off your TV, using this device may not be worth the frustration.

I bought one of these and it's a good quality product. I'd give it 5 stars if it was a little more cost effective. I also bought a Watt meter with this so I could find the best place to put this device to use. I found that most devices only use a watt or less on standby. You computer speakers if you leave them plugged in and on use 8-10 watts (with computer off of coarse), my small HP printer uses about 4 watts in standby. So with a computer you might save 14 watts. If you pay 20 cents a kWH (which is high) you'll save 18-20, assuming you use your computer on average 4 hours a day: 14 * (24-4) * 356 / 1000 * 0.20 = $19.94 in a year. So this won't pay for itself in a year, but it is like getting a surge protector for $10.

The best place I found to use this was the cable TV box in my bedroom. It's not a DVR so I have it switch off now with the TV. In standby mode, the box alone uses about 30 watts, and the receiver uses 1 watt. It's also nice to just switch off the TV and have everything switch off at once. This should save me about $44 a year.

One last note, I found my sub-woofer eating up 10 watts 24/7 because I had it plugged directly in to the wall instead of the outlet in the back of the receiver. If you use one, you may want to check where you plug in yours.

Sorry to report we threw this unit out three months after installation. It was connected to our computer and worked fine until one day it would not turn on despite all efforts. We removed, reset, plugged elswhere it just died. It wasn't worth the time and expense to repackage, bring to P.O. and be without a circuit breaker for an expensive computor.

Put my G5 iMac to sleep and it shuts off selected peripherals (speakers, printer, other wall warts)! Awsome!

I really wanted to save money with all my peripherals hooked to my year old Imac.
The USB devices made the computer cycle back on after 2 seconds. Unplugging various devices would only work intermittently. There was no rhyme or reason to get the strip to work as advertised. I sent it back. I also purchased a Kill A Watt energy monitor. (That works great) In sleep mode the Imac and peripherals draw about 25 watts. (110 when running)
Now I wish I could get my cable box to shut down-it draws about 40 watts all the time.

I purchased this smart strip after reading an article from my power company.It was suppose to save me money,but all it did was cost me more.It worked fine for about a month or so and no matter how I adjust this worthless thing it will not work.I bought 2 of theses and they both quit about the same time.Save your money and just unplug your equipment.What a rip off!!!!