Yes, I thought about that as well. However some electronics may be sensitive to frequent power cuts. I do not know how sensitive a Bitaxe is in this concern.
just crank the frequency param down to 0 (or super low like 100MHz). Boom, hash rate drops to zilch, mining pauses like it's napping. Flip it back to your sweet spot (say, 588 for Gamma) when you're ready to roll again..
PATCH
endpoint the frequency of the chip could be throttled. Maybe that's the way forward. I have to try it out.