Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Surge protector that eliminates standby power

I just came across this new power bar that can be turned off remotely with a RF remote control, and I know there is a few people on the forum that would possibly be interested in a unit like Belkin's conserve energy power bar . Excellent concept, I'm picking one up today!

Take care guys

Edit-I just noticed that it covers to 1000 joules, does anyone know if this is sufficient? I've seen other power bars with a much higher rating but obviously don't have the remote switch.

If nothing else, the remote gives it a good cool factor.

Only problem is that it's RF, so I couldn't use my harmony to control it. Plus it probably costs an arm and a leg...

Hi wheelz999,

I just had an interesting conversation with Tom Cumberland, Axiom's chief electronics engineer, who also sits on a number of Consumer Electronics Association panels that establish various electronic and wiring standards. Previous to joining Axiom, Tom lived in Florida, the lightning strike capitol of the world. During that time, before he realized what Florida was like, he lost several cable boxes, satellite dish receivers and computers to surges from lightning strikes.

Here's the gist of what he told me. If lightning strikes a transformer, phone lines or power wires outside your house, everything is toast--no surge protector will work.

However, he pointed out that if lightning strikes a mile away--goes from the ground to a cloud--it may generate a surge of a couple hundred joules on the power grid, which your protector would work against. Lightning strikes emit powerful EMF's (electro-magnetic field) like a nuclear blast, and that can travel along the power grid, cable lines or phone lines. It can even penetrate underground (buried) power and cable lines. But it's subject to the Inverse Square Ratio law, so that if the strike is a mile or a few Kilometers away, the surge weakens rapidly and is likely only going to be a few hundred joules so your device would work.

A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) like the battery backup on your laptop, will prevent computer problems from brief power interruptions which might be triggered by lightning strikes. Here at Axiom, which is in a Northern Ontario region that gets lots of storms, we have UPS on all the computers to protect against the power blackouts that occur fairly regulary during the fall and winter.

Regards,

Alan

I thought so too, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is only $60 Canadian, $55 I believe on Belkin's website.

Will this device make it so you will lose any settings that is usually kept in tact with the standby mode?

Yup, but I figure most devices have a battery that holds that stuff for a certain amount of time. After all, do you lose all your settings when the power goes out?

Sure do.

Oh. Which ones?

If my power goes out for lets say 8 hours my receiver loses all settings and I have to go back a calibrate it all over.