September 2004
 Graphic that shows setup for power management. |
Standby losses can be significant energy users. Even 100 Watts of continuous standby power use will result in 876 kilowatt-hours of electricity use in one year, more than a standard refrigerator.
Consumer electronics increasingly use power management to save billions of dollars worth of electricity each year. However, too many of these devices have the power management disabled—often because the user controls are inconsistent and confusing. An improved user interface can save electricity without costing more to manufacture. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) is bringing together companies to create a draft voluntary user interface standard to accomplish this (IEEE Draft Standard 1621).
The electronics industry successfully includes product features that reduce power levels when possible to save energy and extend battery life. Much of this has been accomplished through work with the ENERGY STAR program. Despite this success, many devices that are capable of power management do not save energy because the power management features are disabled, incorrectly configured, or thwarted by hardware or software conflicts.
The goal of this standard is to capture additional energy savings by increasing the rate at which power management features are enabled and operate successfully. This standard should lead to other benefits such as improved ease of use and reduced burden of customer support on manufacturers. At present, power management controls in home electronic devices show little consistency in the terms, symbols, and indicators used and in their overall structure. This is particularly true across device types (for example, between a PC and a copier), but often holds even within the same type of device.
The confusion and ambiguity of so many power controls precludes many people from being able to understand power controls and power status. The problematic interfaces further deter many from attempting to change power management settings. This standard is intended to accomplish a broad similarity of experience of power controls of any electronic device that is used in a normal work or home environment through voluntary means. It is not intended to stifle innovation in user interfaces, or to preclude deviations from the standard where clearly warranted.
The first draft of this standard is based on research conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and funded by the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program of the California Energy Commission. For more information on the draft standard, visit the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Web site.
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