New Smart Strip from BITS Limited is a Foolproof Energy Saver

Vampire power is becoming a well-known example of low-hanging fruit for energy efficiency and savings for small businesses. The name refers to power that is ‘sucked’ out of sockets despite the electronic device not even being on, but simply because it is plugged in, it can draw power from the wall for no reason. At GreenBusinessowner.com, we have been testing the BITS, Ltd Smart Strip in our office, and love the results.

What makes the BITS Ltd Smart Strip different is that the color coded outlets on the 10-outlet strip make it foolproof. The red outlets are always active. Thus, any electronic that needs to stay on can be plugged into these outlets. For us, that means our cable box and modem. Anything that doesn’t need to be on all the time can go into one of the other outlets, and these outlets can then be grouped so that an employee leaving at night can turn off one device and the rest get turned off automatically. In the home, this can mean the |image1|TV is plugged into the blue outlet, and when the TV is turned off, everything in the green outlets are also turned off, including the VCR/DVD, the Wii, and any other items around the entertainment center that people don’t need when they’re not using the TV. In an office, you can easily plug your computer into your blue outlet, and your secondary screen, printer, external microphone, fax, etc. into the green outlets, so that when you turn your computer off, these outlets are automatically switched off, whether they were clicked on during the work day or not.

Being able to control all your electronic devices from one central device (TV, computer, etc.) is extremely smart design. It’s much easier for an employee to, for example, forget to turn the printer off than to forget to turn their computer off. Thus, you can have employees set these Smart Strips up so that one central electronic device controls all other peripherals.

Several other things we like about the Smart Strip and BITS, Ltd.:

• The Smart Strip also is a powerful surge protector, so you can rest assured that your electronic devices are protected in the case of a surge or busted circuit.
• The ergonomic design is terrific: the plug that goes into the wall outlet is virtually flat, allowing us to plug the Smart Strip into the wall and slide our desks right up against it.
• The company itself also makes a “Charging Station” power strip that automatically stops charging when a rechargeable device (i.e., cell phone) has reached full charge.