Similar deal to the previous Embertec deal but now available in SA aswell as Vic. These are great when set up right, but can be a PITA if they are not. I recommend asking the installer to set it to 3 hours or to disable time shutdown.
Free Embertec Smart Switch Sa/Vic
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Of course they are its ongoing creative accounting that has little to do with being 'green'!! But I made the appointment for the bloke to come out but canceled too much hassle. Aldi had them for around 20 bucks which will cost us (society) a whole lot less then these.
I have them set up to power off my av receiver, my set box, etc, a big saver for me, because my DM800 using 13w even in standby mode, one good thing is it power off every hour so my kids can stop watching tv if I dont put more time.
Like everything… Read the bloody instructions. LOL
I got them for free through our power supplier and they are great! Especially in a tech heavy room, which we have a few.
Totally agree about them being a pain in the @rse if you don't have them set up correctly though.
I got offered these (or something similar) a few months back by a door to door rep, i refused as he wouldn't let me install them myself and insisted that he has to come inside my home and make sure it was correctly installed.
I didn't want to let a complete stranger (who looked like he lived on the streets) check out all my gadgets so he could rip them off later
yeah same, but i wanted the switches more, so let them in… probably shouldnt have given I wasnt home and my wife had rang me to tell me about them…
ended up with four though, 1 on each PC and one on two of the TVs.just wish it also shut off the TV too as when it goes into powersavings mode it just turns off all the accessories.
You have to let them in as they cannot get the credits if you install it yourself. Also, they take a picture of the installation as a record. You also have to talk on the phone to their HQ to record the transaction. A bit invasive but its my tax money via carbon credits so fair enough.
I see with these you have to sign over your VEEC's, or whatever they're called, which I believe is basically your allocated amount of co2 gas emissions, which ember-tec then sell on to big businesses and allow them to pump out more co2 for free before being hit with the carbon tax, kinda like expanding their tax-free threshold?
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how it was told to me!
Also, good work on the maths there WV1, certainly doesn't seem worth the hassle!tried getting an appointment last week for someone to come out in the 3185 post code (SE melbourne) , apparently they were fully booked and would call me back in 2 weeks to try to arrange something then
Is it still free for South Australia even though it's a Vic government initiative?
I know SA is an option in the states but what if it's only free for VIC…hmmmm.
At the bottom of the form it says the following:
"Embertec SmartSwitch™ Free installations currently available only in Victoria and South Australia. Maximum 4 per household."
I organised for the guy to come over and deliver/install a few of these but I ended up saying "thanks, but no thanks" when it came time to sign the contract.
I looked over it and had soem questions for him, he called his manager to try and clear it up but heres what I found out:
This isn't a government initiative, its just a company making use of the green subsidies to provide a subsidised product …
The contract you sign explains that the carbon they offset from your 'household' belongs to them, and its thier intention to sell the ofsett carbon output back to big industry …
The term "household" applies because this contract applies even if you move house.
There is also no time length on the contract, which means they're entitled to the carbon offset indefinately.
I wasn't comfortable with that.
hopefully its valid for as long as your using there equipment only, as they are providing it for free, its a win win situation, less electicity bills for me(equals less carbon tax), money from selling the offset for them…
Thats what I was worried about, and what i had the delivery guy on the phone to his manager for …
It looked like "indefinantly" meant beyond the life of the product …
… but this is only relevant if carbon trading becomes an industry in the future.
Yeah, it's a government initiative. They are actually authorized to create the credits by becoming accredited, so until you sign the contract the credits don't even actually exist.
Have a read about the VEET scheme online here:
https://www.veet.vic.gov.au/Public/Public.aspx?id=Home
"Under the scheme, accredited businesses can offer discounts and special offers on selected energy saving products and appliances installed at homes, businesses or other non-residential premises. The bigger the greenhouse gas reduction, the bigger the potential saving."
https://www.veet.vic.gov.au/Public/Public.aspx?id=GettingAcc…
"Under the VEET scheme, accredited businesses can create Victorian energy efficiency certificates, or VEECs, when they help consenting energy consumers - who may be individuals, businesses or other organisations - make selected energy efficiency improvements to their premises. By on-selling those VEECs in a certificate market, businesses can put themselves in a position to offer a discount, or other benefit, to energy consumers on those same improvements to their premises. This discount or benefit is known as an Energy Saver Incentive."
Yeah, thats definately a better explanation. What I was concerned most about was the length of the contract, considering the product is only worth $100.00, i didn't like the idea of a lifetime of being mined for "carbon crefit".
That's exactly what I thought when I first heard about it. I had a friend that worked for a company that installed these things for about a month and he felt kinda shady doing it and quit.
Had in-home demo the other day. Large, ugly, you need to use your own power board, and has a remote sensor that must be wired in and be visible to your TV/DVD remote. Definitely not suitable if you care about the look of your room.
Had a "Smart" Power strip installed. It was utter crap. Closed the Tv and peripherals at inconvenient times and made an annoying buzzin sound.
How about that orangutan at the office put her foot down and cut some power bills.
I have these and as a Victorian got them for free.
I have taken 2 off as when you do the sums for a single tv more hassle than its worth. Panasonic plasma has 0.4 watts standby that in a year equates to (0.4 x 365 x 24) which is 3.5KW/H around a $1 saving if it sat in standby all year. Less of course the standby current of the Embertec which is not stated. I just hope the government is not paying through the nose as a subsidy.