Greenbox – Waste no Electricity with this Phone Charger

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This Greenbox project is a beautiful way to save energy. Not only does it dress up the charging area but it also saves you money. When the phone is removed the wall wart charger is electrically disconnected.

"As a design exercise, I have built a phone charging station that makes unplugging very easy and instinctive (with affordance playing a big role). So easy you don’t even notice it unplugs automagically. The design is made from cheap and available materials, and was a great fun to build on a rainy day. "

Thanks Alberto

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19 Comments


  1. Hmm, building this box seems like a lot of work. It’s better to just leave it plugged in. Oh God, why didn’t I just type these words. So much work!


  2. Cool idea, but I see one problem. To make the phone charge you have to close the lid. Now you don’t know when it’s done charging.

    I’ve noticed on many devices that when you unplug them, they will show a full meter even if they are not quite 100%.

    How about a window in the lid?


  3. @brakk
    I think it works, so that it charges when the lid is open, and the straw just disconnects power when the lid is closed?


  4. Is it a good idea to use a microswitch like that for mains voltage? Needs a warning along the lines of mains voltage kills, only attempt if you’re competent!

    I live in 240V land so not sure if mains is as dangerous in 110V land? Having said that this one does appear to have been made quite expertly 🙂


  5. I would be worried about using a non-polarized, non-grounded plug for this kind of setup. You don’t want a melted switch to electrify the lever! Also, I bet a lot more power could be saved by using a more modern switching-type charger and just skipping the switch.



  7. I think this is a wonderful project. Yes, the switch may become a problem, but wall warts do not draw much current and one should make sure the micro switch is rated for the project. I would probably make some variations to the project, like a winder for the phone plug in, so the phone can be picked up and unpluged easily. also move the microswitch so that when the phone is in the cradle, it will turn on the charger. that way you can see the status, with the box open or closed. For a version 1.0, this is top notch and a sellable product.


  8. Neat idea, but would this even save any energy? If there isn’t a load on the transformer it shouldn’t draw any power anyway.


  9. @brandon

    Energy still gets wasted, as the primary coil is still enegised, and coupling between the coils isn’t perfect. However, like the guy said in comment #5, this is a problem that’s largely already been fixed; you’d struggle to buy a phone in Europe that still uses a large transformer…


  10. You would save more money by taking one less hot shower per YEAR than unplugging your wall wart when not in use.










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