The power strip even includes outlets spaced to accommodate large wall-warts.

Chances are if you’re reading this magazine, you’ve got plenty of electronic gadgets in your house. And quite a few of them are drawing phantom power, wasting electricity while they are plugged in, unused. The problem is that plugging and unplugging everything is a hassle, and even switching off power strips is just cumbersome enough to keep us from doing it, despite our best intentions to lighten our carbon footprint.

WattStopper’s Isolé offers a novel solution to the problem. By combining a surge-protector, power strip, and motion sensor into one, the Isolé IDP-3050 can control the power wasted by all those electronics that sit unused while no one is home. The device offers six motion controlled outlets, plus two more that aren’t affected by the motion sensor. The two uncontrolled outlets come in handy, but we wished we could turn the motion control on or off for individual outlets to match our needs.

After plugging in your gadgets and connecting the included wired motion sensor, your electronics will automatically turn on and off when you are nearby.

In our tests, the sensor effectively covered our work area, detecting motion up to 15 feet away, but it was most accurate at close range, such as our desktop. A dial on the sensor allows you to set the time delay before power is cut off from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, although there aren’t specific minute settings on the dial.

The Isolé IDP-3050 works well for automatically powering off gadgets in a work area or small room, but is less successful in larger areas--controlling media equipment in a living room or great room, for example.

Isolé IDP-3050
COMPANY: WattStopper
CONTACT: www.wattstopper.com
PRICE: $90
REQUIREMENTS: Stuff to plug in

Includes uncontrolled outlets for devices that need constant power. Simpler than switching power strips on and off.
Can’t individually select outlets controlled by motion sensor. Delay dial doesn’t offer specific time settings.