Intelliplug – TV/Audio version
Product Description
TV/Audio Visual Intelliplug – TVA106Eliminating standby in our homes is not always easy. That little red light on your television and home entertainment additions such as surround sound amplifiers DVD Players and computer consoles are needlessly costing you money every hour. Research suggests that leaving electrical equipment on standby can reduce equipment lifespan by an average of 15% and creates a needless fire risk.OneClick technologies have spent several years developing the world< >< >s first patented intelligent plug designed to work automatically and boasts a lifespan of at least 15 years.Tested to British Standards RoHS compliant and recommended by the Energy Saving Trust the IntelliPlug< >< >s< >< > green credentials integrity and reliability are endorsed by independently qualified technicians.How Does It Work?The TVA106 IntelliPlug< >< > learns to recognise the signal from your television remote control this enables it to activate your television automatically into standby mode whenever you are ready to use it. When you have finished using your television you switch it off in the normal way using your remote control and the IntelliPlug< >< > does the restNo more standby < >< > no more wasted power. Instead of simply switching off the television at this point the clever IntelliPlug< >< > continues to record the amount of power being drawn by the television and waits until the internal circuitry has completely powered down in to a standby state only then does the IntelliPlug< >< > switch the television and peripheral equipment off.Switching the television power off immediately (as if pulling the plug from the mains) can cause corruption of the internal software in some digital televisions. This can result in the television having to go through a re-boot process.To date OneClick have sold over half a million products and we estimate that together we< >< >ve saved almost 23 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxid
- Remote Standby Saver for TV
- Powerdown all your TV accessories and your power supply automatically
- 1 Main Socket, plus 2 accessory sockets
- Connect further trailing adapter if you wish (max 13amps)
- Auto Calibrates the power during installation plus offers surge protection too!
The Intelliplug is easy to use, saves energy (and money and carbon emissions) and is a great, simple product for the house. It reduces standby power usage in a very convenient way. You choose a “master appliance” (e.g. TV), plug this into the Intelliplug’s master socket, then plug other appliances that are used with the TV into the Intelliplug’s peripheral sockets (video, amplifier etc). When the TV is switched on, power is given to all the peripherals at the same time. When the TV is switched off, power is cut (after a short delay) to everything, and nothing is left on standby. You also get surge protection for all appliances plugged into the Intelliplug.
The intelliplug itself consumes around 0.5 W, which is much less than the standby power typically used by TVs, amplifiers, videos/digiboxes etc. Standby usage for a group of TV related appliances should be cut by at least 95%.
I bought both the desktop and TV/audio versions of the Intelliplug. Before I got them I wasn’t sure about the differences between the versions, and there are two main differences. The basic functionality is the same: when the master appliance is switched on, power is supplied to the two peripheral sockets, and when the master appliance is switched off, all power is cut from all the sockets (nothing left on standby). The main difference is that the TV/audio version has a small attachment that responds to a remote control, so the switching on/off of the power to the sockets can be done with your TV remote. The other difference is that the TV/audio version has one of the two peripheral sockets dedicated to a Sky digibox (this socket is treated differently in the way it is powered down). So the TV/audio version has just one “normal” peripheral socket controlled by the master socket, though you can easily plug in a four-way adaptor to get more appliances controlled by the master socket. With the desktop version, both peripheral sockets are controlled in the same way by the master socket.
With the TV version, programming it to understand your remote is dead easy and takes about 10 seconds. You then press the “on” button on the remote to go from zero power to having the TV in normal standby mode, press it again to switch the TV (and linked appliances) on, and when you press again the TV goes back to standby, and after about 30 seconds power is cut to all appliances.
I’ve been using it on the TV for about 2 weeks and have had no problems at all. Switches on and stays on when you need it, powers off only when you hit the remote.
One thing to be careful of: appliances that don’t use much power when they’re on won’t be suitable for use as a “master appliance”. My hi-fi amp only uses about 6W, and this isn’t enough for the Intelliplug to work properly. All TVs and PCs use much more than this and should be fine (there’s a third version designed for laptops, which have different power usage patterns).
Overall: a simple and effective way to cut down on electricity usage and save money.
Rating: 5 / 5
This product should save money over the years. It cuts out all appliances plugged into it and switches them on with ease. Just beware if you have sky +. You cannot plug this in if you have timed recordings. Therefore, I didn’t actually use the plug on the TV i intended it for. Hence the 4 stars, not 5. However, I think I should have thought of this problem.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a smart little device that can not only save you money but can help save the planet too. It also lets you turn on complex A/V systems with a single press of a button.
It looks a little bit like an old style three way mains adaptor. The TV set plugs into the top socket, one side socket supplies ‘switched’ power when the unit is ‘on’, and the other side socket supplies power all the time. With a six way junction block plugged into each side socket you can use it to feed power to anything from Freesat boxes to phone chargers.
I plugged my Freesat box, amplifier and ambient lighting to the switched side, and my DVD recorder (which needs to be left on standby for late night recordings etc), laptop charger and phone charger into the unswitched side (for overnight charging). That still leaves me plenty of spare sockets on each side for adding extra devices.
The Intelliplug comes with a small remote receiver unit wired to it. The last step in installation is to point your TV remote at it and follow a simple procedure which programmes the Intelliplug to recognise the ‘on/off’ signal from the remote. Then simply position the little receiver unobtrusively by the TV.
When you press the TV ‘on’ button once everything turns on and the TV set comes on in ‘standby’. A second press turns on the TV. When you’ve finished watching for the evening you press the TV ‘off’ button once. There’s a delay of around 30 seconds (to allow sensitive electronics to power down gently, presumably) then everything on the ‘switched’ circuit turns off.
The only reason I’ve rated this at four stars instead of five is that on two occasions I’ve turned it on and its mysteriously switched itself off again a minute later. Switching it on a second time seems to do the trick, and as long as this foible doesn’t develop into a fault I’m very happy to keep using it.
I’ll be buying a couple more of these for other uses around the house.
Rating: 4 / 5
I bought this mainly for saving on `Stand-By` power but soon discovered a happy side effect … Switch off `all` your stuff with one click of the TV remote’s On/Off … Very easy to set up & use. You simply plug it into the wall socket & plug the master device (TV) into the main input. Run an extension from the second input to power your other gadgets & set the antenna where it can be seen by your TV remote … To power up, you simply click the TV remote On/Off & hold till you see the green light & all is on & ready to use. One small problem which may or may not be a glitch with the Intelliplug itself (?), is that a few times, it has randomly turned itself off whilst I have been operating my Blu-Ray player. All in all though, a great product i would hugely recommend.
Rating: 4 / 5
I have no idea if this product saves me electricity or not.
What I do know is that when I switch my TV off via the remote when watching TV in bed, the annoying red light switches off automatically leaving the room in darkness.
The product was worth it just for that feature.
Rating: 5 / 5