I don't think a lot of people are familiar with phantom voltage and smart power strips. Phantom voltage is common for large appliances like TV's, computers, and stereo systems. When you turn the devices off, they still drain voltage beyond what is required for "stand by mode", in some cases it isn't much in some cases it is fairly significant.

A smart outlet allows you to have a control device that when turned off (i.e. TV) all other devices turn off with it. This actually kills power to the outlet and removes all phantom voltage draw from the devices. You can use a Kill-A-Watt meter like the one I reviewed a while ago to find devices that have large phantom voltages and use a smart outlet strip to reduce the electricity wasted.

Smart outlets work exactly like regular surge protector switches, except they have a control outlet or two that determine when to power off the other devices. They are typically smart enough to recognize phantom voltage on the control device to determine when it is really off to kill power to the other devices. If required, you can typically adjust the sensitivity with a small dial.

A great example is using it for your PC. When you power off your PC, you would use the other outlets for the printer, monitor, scanner, and other accessories to have them shut off automatically when you turn off your computer.

I have the following smart strip but when trying to find it on Amazon it is no longer available.

I need a replacement strip for another family member, so this one seems like the best option available.

How much and where do you get it?

You can find it on Amazon like most of my reivews and it is only $15.49 which is very reasonable considering a dumb strip will cost around $10.

_{All images from Amazon product pages}