I went to Ikea today, looking for a new beside lamp. I’ve got a shelf thing I bought in Wickes (of all places) next to the bed now holding my clock radio and pile of magazines from subscriptions (Computer Shopper, Focus, Digital Photographer Magazine, Guitarist, for those who care). There’s various other odds and ends on it.
Anyway, my existing lamp, which I bought donkeys years ago is a simple gooseneck desk lamp type thing I bought in the local Kwik Save. This was back when fitted plugs weren’t a legal requirement! It’s served me well, but with how the new shelving unit sits beneath the shelves on the wall, it just didn’t fit in anymore. No matter where I put the lamp, it ends up either blinding me, or not casting enough light to read properly.
So I bought a new lamp today. A Knivsta. It’s a nice lamp, and not a bad price. A couple of things annoy me about it though. It uses a halogen bulb, which are renowned for sucking down power like a wino at a free bar. Not a problem, as I can replace the bulb with an LED bulb – uses less power, so it’s all good. The second annoying thing is that it uses a mains power adapter. Halogen bulbs run on DC generally (as far as I know) and so need a transformer. Transformers waste power, but this one wastes power even when switched off! The light is off, yet the transformer is warm, so it’s obviously drawing power (and wasting it).
There’s not much I can do about it, so it’ll have to do. It’s annoying though, as I’m trying to SAVE power, not waste it! I’ll admit I have a fair amount of stuff that sits on standby. But for good reason:
- Sky Box – Has to really, or it won’t record anything!
- Video – This could switch off. I rarely use it. It’s a DVD/VCR combi, and I use it for playing DVDs more than anything. The whole recording part of it, I rarely use.
I have stuff that HAS to stay on. Or rather, is better it does. I might invest in some of Noodle’s Domia kits. At least I can switch off stuff without having to faff around down the back of the shelves trying to find switches!