The timer will turn off the TV,DVD etc. However the timer uses power and you need to reset all the clocks in your devices and some devices like satallite receivers need to be on to keep your subscribed station up to date.

To answer your question
The timer will cut power to the appliance and like someone said, you will lose the setting, preferences and times.

However what you may not have considered is, plug in timers require current and have motors to keep the time so, the timer may consume more electricity than the clock or standby mode of an appliance plugged into it

Power strips are the best protection if you wish to shut off and conserve electricty but you must decide if it is worth the hassle and the cost of the strip may not be recovered in the electricity saved.

if you really want to save the environment start a campaign against all teh paper wasted making these "green" magazines and flyers. sure, they use recycled paper. but that just means someone ELSE must use non-recycled paper for their project.

i am so sick of the "green" fad, i wonder how much their "hot air" is affecting GW.

If you want to go that route and not use any electricity when you switch off a appliance or electronic device, plug it into a power strip without a pilot light and manually switch it off. If you don't mind waiting for the cable box to reboot and having to reset the clock on your vcr or dvd recorder. One way to save electricity is to unplug all your ac adaptors when not in use to switch to cfl bulbs. the only thing I shut off with a power strip is the computer.

I would point out that the whole theory behind the small constant drain for the remote-control receivers and the the like is that your time and convenience are more valuable than the tiny bit of electricity used.

I guess if your time is only worth $0.25 an hour, it might be worth going through all the hassle to eliminate these so-called "vampire" loads.

Like yourself we look for ways to save an electrical penny here and there..CFL's, less lights on etc. Turning appliances off when not in use also. We have switched to more efficient flat screens for PC's and television viewing because they in the long run consume less....

One of the problems I have with the theory of turning appliances off is this..,

Many electrical appliances have small computers in them. They require "filtered" power..just like your PC. Commonly referred to as Switch Mode power supplies, they increase the 60Hz (wall power) to 200Khz, then convert to regulated DC. The theory is that the AC ripple will be smaller and more tolerable to these computers in the ripple occurs as a function of 200Khz instead of 60 Hz. It is, and can be measured.

The problem is, these supplies ( as well as all other electrical devices) don't like to be "cold started". The INRUSH current that is momentarily experienced can be anywhere between 20 to 40 times what a device is designed to operate on. True it's a momentary hit - int he area of 10 milliseconds or so, but it still stresses equipment. Again this can be measured (with a bit more sophisticated equipment). Suffice to Google it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inrush_current
http://www.aemc.com/techinfo/appnotes/clamp_on_meters/App_Clamp-OnMeters_InrushCurrent.pdf

My wife pointed out one of these "go green" articles and the author clearly didn't understand the global impact...or basic electrical principals is his monologue to tell people to switch off.

What if we did just what he said and fully unplugged or turned off each device after use? The stored electricity in capacitors would drain away and the devices would then need to recharge before becoming operational(See 2nd link). These devices, now stone cold and drained of all electricity would experience the inrush current hit, which over time would cause premature failure.

So, as a result of "doing your part to go green" your PC monitor has just failed and you'll truck it off to the landfill. You'll drive (with your gas powered car, truck or SUV) to a big-box store that has all the lights on and is open an extra day - Sunday - for those of us who need something and can't wait until Monday. NOt to mention all those part time employees who drove there in their own vehicles and didn't take public transit. Your monitor prematurely failed like everyone elses and the factory that produces them has to stay running full tilt longer hours, and for an extra week to keep up with the demand for replacement equipment.

In the global sense of gowing green, the quiescent current (vamipre current) isn't all that significant.

I AM for greening up our lives. We have reduced our carbon footprint by over 60% from where we were in 2004, and we're still looking at ways to improve on that, but I won't subscribe to literally pulling the plug for reasons cited above.

Steve,
Huntsville, Ontario