New Belkin Gadget Saves Power and Reduces Clutter

We discus energy vampires a lot here on the blog. For those unfamiliar with the topic, energy vampires are devices that draw electricity even when they are not in use (this is known as a phantom load or parasitic draw). All the spooky names aside, Americans lose millions of dollars and waste millionsf kilowatt-hours each year to energy vampires.

Earlier this year, I showed you a smart power strip that can help easily slay the vampires in your living room and office. Cutting the parasitic draw from your TVs and computers is a big step and can save on your electricity bill, but what other vampire devices are lurking around the house waiting to be slayed?

It turns out that one of the biggest vampires out there is one of the smallest devices in your home: your cell phone. Think about it, you charge your cell phone every day or so, but leave the charge in the wall. It turns out that leaving your cell phone charger plugged in at all times burns a lot of electricity. The simplest way to deal with this is to unplug your cell phone charger every time you finish charging your phone.

However, plugging and unplugging your charger every day can be a real pain. My cell phone charger is in my bedroom and the plug is behind a table, while is apparently enough of a barrier for me to neglect my vampire slaying duties a few times each week. It's not just cell phones though, it's all gadgets you have to charge: iPods, game systems, etc.

Enter Belkin with their new Conserve Valet. Engineered to eliminate parasitic draw, the Conserve Valet cuts off all power once your devices are charged, totally preventing any waste. You can charge up to four gadgets via USB at the same time and you'll never have to move a table to unplug your charger again. As a bonus, the device neatly wraps up all of your cords and keeps your counter neat and clutter-free.

The Conserve Valet is available for pre-order now at Belkin.

Image via Belkin