• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Anyone been round with the power meter (UK mainly, all welcome!)

Digby

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
1,632
Likes
1,555
Any UK residents been round with the power meter and looked at the power consumption of their devices. Anyone thinking of downsizing/changing/turning off devices in the face of 52p kWh?

For instance, I could save £35 a year switching off router and my RME Fireface UC overnight. I'm trying to consider whether this is worth the effort, whether it adds to wear and tear, if the modem/router performance would suffer....

Has anyone else had to re-evaluate how they run devices because of the impending energy price mayhem?
 
Last edited:

MCH

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Messages
2,580
Likes
2,197
I always had that in mind because of environmental reasons. All the amps currently in my main system (stereo hypex Boxem and two svs subs) have signal sensing auto on, so the consumption when not in use is <1.5 W for the three combined. It works very well and i trully believe it is the way to go, be the electricity expensive or cheap.
Thank you EU for your "stupid useless" rules.
 
Last edited:

bluefuzz

Major Contributor
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
1,043
Likes
1,772
in the face of 52p kWh
That's almost cheap! Price has been over 9 DKK/kWh several times in the last month here in Denmark. That's over £1. Averaging about 60p ...

I have a sensor on my meter sending my usage via a Zigbee bridge to a Home Assistant setup which in turn logs it to an InfluxDB for visualisation in Grafana. I cen see in gruesome detail exactly how much energy I'm using and how much it's costing me. Not pleasant viewing.
 

antcollinet

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
7,408
Likes
12,291
Location
UK/Cheshire
Ha - amazing timing

I'm just doing exactly that, and have purchased some remote control switches to power everything off completely.

So far desk and audio system had about 20W base load. Now reduced to about 3W when turned off.

TV system had an incredible 60W - much (I think) of which came from the sub which is not sleeping.

I'm now battling my NAS which seems to sit at a constant 35W, and I cant get the drives to sleep.

I'm also having a smart meter fittted at the end of the month.
 
OP
D

Digby

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
1,632
Likes
1,555
That's almost cheap! Price has been over 9 DKK/kWh several times in the last month here in Denmark. That's over £1. Averaging about 60p ...
Is it typical to have a variable rate in Denmark? £1 per kWh, my goodness! Presumably once things blow over, it will come down much quicker too.

I'm just doing exactly that, and have purchased some remote control switches to power everything off completely.
Don't the remote control switches take some energy themselves?

I'm now battling my NAS which seems to sit at a constant 35W, and I cant get the drives to sleep.
Do you need the NAS on 24/7? If you have a router with a USB port, you could attach a portable hdd and then have the NAS sleep most of the time, not sure if that would work for you.
 

bluefuzz

Major Contributor
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
1,043
Likes
1,772
I'm now battling my NAS which seems to sit at a constant 35W, and I cant get the drives to sleep.
Yes same here. Of course the Influx/Grafana dockers are on the NAS ... :facepalm:

I need to get some power meter/switch outlets to better track my individual devices.
 

bluefuzz

Major Contributor
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
1,043
Likes
1,772
Is it typical to have a variable rate in Denmark?
Yes, it's very common. You can get fixed price deals but generally only for a limited time - usually 6 months. Several energy companies here have simply cancelled all their fixed price agreements in the last few weeks. Otherwise they'd go bust ...
 

Mart68

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Messages
2,606
Likes
4,856
Location
England
I have six devices that sit in standby - DAC, CD Transport, Router, cable TV box, TV, BD player.

Not really thought about it until now but I could just turn off everything but the TV, Router and cable TV box with no additional inconvenience.

Doubt they add up to more than a couple of watts an hour but I suppose 24/7/365 that will add up to a significant amount at the new rates.
 
OP
D

Digby

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
1,632
Likes
1,555
I have six devices that sit in standby - DAC, CD Transport, Router, cable TV box, TV, BD player.
You likely also have a microwave oven and other things around the house that barely get used but are always on. My microwave is about 2w at idle, so £10 a year for that item. Not much on its own, but these things add up if you have several things permanently on consuming more than a couple of watts.

Doubt they add up to more than a couple of watts an hour but I suppose 24/7/365 that will add up to a significant amount at the new rates.
Most of those items have a low standby (<1w), I reckon.

Router will be between 5 and 40w, which could mean a significant saving if turned off overnight. Those with NAS storage (say 35w idle) could be paying £160+ a year just to keep it running.

 

Mart68

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Messages
2,606
Likes
4,856
Location
England
You likely also have a microwave oven and other things around the house that barely get used but are always on. My microwave is about 2w at idle, so £10 a year for that item. Not much on its own, but these things add up if you have several things permanently on consuming more than a couple of watts.
No I don't. My microwave predates the invention of 'standby'. It's switched off at the wall anyway.

Only other thing on all the time is a larder 'fridge. After dark I rarely have more than one light on at once and the lamps all have 4 watt eco-bulb things in.. And I got those for free.
 

antcollinet

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
7,408
Likes
12,291
Location
UK/Cheshire
Is it typical to have a variable rate in Denmark? £1 per kWh, my goodness! Presumably once things blow over, it will come down much quicker too.


Don't the remote control switches take some energy themselves?


Do you need the NAS on 24/7? If you have a router with a USB port, you could attach a portable hdd and then have the NAS sleep most of the time, not sure if that would work for you.
The remote switches take around 1W - I need them to switch a base load of about 7W for them to payback in a year, assuming I can get rid of that base load for most of the day.

If I can't get the NAS to sleep, I'll put it on a power schedule so it is off most of the day, just coming on to run a backup, then power on manually if needed for longer.
 

simbloke

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
354
Likes
584
Location
North Wales, UK
I recently put a power meter on the fridge, it's about 15 years old and using 2 units a day, so 730 a year. This did surprise me a bit as new ones seem to range from 100-250 a year (for the same style/size).
Unfortunately the 100kWh/year fridges are very expensive!
 

antcollinet

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
7,408
Likes
12,291
Location
UK/Cheshire
I recently put a power meter on the fridge, it's about 15 years old and using 2 units a day, so 730 a year. This did surprise me a bit as new ones seem to range from 100-250 a year (for the same style/size).
Unfortunately the 100kWh/year fridges are very expensive!
If your leccy is 0.35/unit (I've no idea what it is going to be capped at yet), your annual saving with a new fridge would be £168 (120 if leccy is 0.25) based on the less efficient 250 units/year. Add around £35 to £50/year to those figures for the most efficient versions

How expensive is the new fridge - divide it by 168 (or 120) to get your break even time in years.


I tried to use power savings to justify a new macbook. Sadly the breakeven was going to be up towards 20 years. It didn't wash. :facepalm:
 
OP
D

Digby

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
1,632
Likes
1,555

Berwhale

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
3,933
Likes
4,922
Location
UK
The drinks fridge and (very old) 2nd freezer in the garage will be turned off shortly. I've made a note to check the standby settings on all of my TVs, satellite receivers and game consoles (I read today that some Xbox Series X consoles consume 30W in 'instant on' standby which was the default setting for devices purchased before the middle of this year). I'm also considering reducing the number of smart devices (mainly Echo Dots and Shows) that I have around the house and turning off some networking kit (I have multiple switches and wireless access points).
 

Berwhale

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
3,933
Likes
4,922
Location
UK

This shows total cost of ownership over 15 years. I would scroll through these until you find one that suits you.

Nice website, it doesn't show any Haier branded products (Haier own GE, Hoover, Hotpoint, Candy, Fisher & Paykel appliance brands, but the parent company is relatively unknown in the UK at least).

I have one of their fridge/freezers: https://www.haier-europe.com/en_GB/multi-door-fridge-freezers/34003791/hb18fgsaaa-uk/

Haier have a cost calculator built into their website...

1662925632330.png
 

antcollinet

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
7,408
Likes
12,291
Location
UK/Cheshire
The drinks fridge and (very old) 2nd freezer in the garage will be turned off shortly. I've made a note to check the standby settings on all of my TVs, satellite receivers and game consoles (I read today that some Xbox Series X consoles consume 30W in 'instant on' standby which was the default setting for devices purchased before the middle of this year). I'm also considering reducing the number of smart devices (mainly Echo Dots and Shows) that I have around the house and turning off some networking kit (I have multiple switches and wireless access points).
I've been surprised how low the power rating of some devices is. My (desktop) PC is 3W in standby. The switch next to it ON is 2W.

Most modern USB chargers seem to be zero if not actually charging anything. I have a charging station with a lawnmower charger and two Bosch power tool chargers. These run at a total of 120W when charging which drops to about 3 W when all batteries are charged but still plugged in.

But my MiniDSP flex is 5W in standby.
 
Top Bottom