Receiver Energy Consumption?

[BillRadio]

I made it a habit to turn off the power on our 322 and 522 receivers each night. I hoped it would make a difference in energy consumption, wear & tear, and heat generation. But it may all be folly. The fan runs (ocassionally) on the 522 even when off, and the 322 seems to always be warm.

Does anyone know if it makes a difference? If so, how much? The 322 seems to turn the DISH screensaver off at the ch 3/4 output at power down, but all others don't. The specs only report current usage when 'on'. What's your experience?

[Richard King]

The receivers are always in standby mode, even when turned off so that they can receive downloads and guide updates. I really don't think it makes much, if any difference.

[Fifty Caliber]

The only thing that powering down a receiver realy does is mute the A/V output signals.

[Stewart Vernon]

Many things technology-wise aren't off, but in standby.

Also worth noting.... is that even things that you can turn off for real... sometimes the transformer is still drawing/using/wasting power as long as the unit is still plugged in. Don't believe it? Feel the black box plugged into the wall outlet (for those kinds of plugs) or feel around the box near where the power cord goes into it (if the transformer is internal to the unit instead of at the plug end).

[Richard King]

Yep. The only way to stop a transformer from wasting power is to interrupt the primary side of the transformer. This is usually done by unplugging.

[gitarzan]

My watt meter shows my vip 622 uses about 62-63 watts. So 63 x 24 hours = about 1.5 kwh / day or 45 kwh /month. My electricity (which is very cheap) is about 6 cents /kwh. My monthly electricity cost for my 622 if I leave it turned on or not is about $2.70.

[BillRadio]

My watt meter shows my vip 622 uses about 62-63 watts. Is it the same both ON & OFF?

[JohnL]

Is it the same both ON & OFF?


Bill,

DVR receivers probably use alittle less wattage when in standby as the Hard Drive is spun down.

DVR's in standby probably use about 3-5 watts less. A 522, 625 Dual Tuner receiver is suppose to use 50 watts when powered up.

In the end, the savings to put a receiver in standby is only going to save you MAYBE a buck or two a month. You'd be better off putting a Clothes line in your basement to hang up your laundry if you really want to save some money on your energy bill, or turn down your Water Heater.

The savings you would get putting your Satellite receivers in standby is hardly noticable.

[Stewart Vernon]

In the end, the savings to put a receiver in standby is only going to save you MAYBE a buck or two a month. You'd be better off putting a Clothes line in your basement to hang up your laundry if you really want to save some money on your energy bill, or turn down your Water Heater.

Yep... the clothes dryer (if you dry a lot of clothes and often), the central heat/air unit, the stove (if you cook a lot), the water heater, and the refrigerator are by and large the biggest consumption of electricity in most homes.

Sure, if you turn on all the lights at the same time and all your TVs and computers and everything else... then that eventually becomes significant too... but each individual thing doesn't make as big a difference as say turning the heat/air down/up a few degrees or hanging clothes on a wire to dry does...