Green A/V Limits Phantom Power Load
This California home is shedding energy by automatically cutting power to its array of high-end electronics.
Most high-tech houses are cool when the electronics systems turn on, but the coolest part of this home is when the electronics turn off.
That’s because when many of the electronic devices in this house are turned off, they’re completely off—and don’t draw the “phantom” or “vampire” loads of electricity that most home electronics systems use whenever they are plugged in. In this house alone, the phantom electricity load has been cut by a third, thanks to the use of energy-efficient electronics and automating them to power down completely.
For example, the audio and video components for the two media rooms and a whole-house audio system shut off completely when a Crestron home control system sends signals to Panamax power conditioners, which cut power to the components plugged into them. In addition, a primary Crestron touchpanel in the kitchen can put secondary Crestron touchpanels throughout the house in sleep mode, thereby saving more power. And when no one’s in the house, power is cut to all the electronics.
“We simplified turning off the lighting controls and audio/video systems, and we sought out vampire loads and automated the elimination of those loads,” says Gene Quisisem, systems designer for electronics installer SoundVision of Novato, CA.
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[Link: electronichouse.com]View slideshow
[Link: electronichouse.com]
