Power consumption in "standby" vs "on" mode (1 Viewer)

[Bob Tarabella]

My Denon 2800 receiver specs say that it draws 5 amps of power. Any ideas how much it pulls when its in the "standby" mode?
It would be convenient to just leave it on all the time. This would greatly simplify life for everyone in the house that complains about the giant universal remote. If left on all the time, the TiVo remote would be able to control the TV and volume with one remote.

 

[Fredrik E]

It draws much, much less in standby mode, maybe around 1W, which means a current of around 10 milliamps. Switch it off when not in use !
[Edited last by Fredrik E on September 03, 2001 at 06:34 PM]

 

[Todd Hochard]

I actually measured this on my Denon AVR-3300.
In standby, the unit pulls 15-20 milliamps, or 2W at most. When on, with no signal applied from any source, the unit drew .42A, or 50W. This was with a measured 119.5VAC at the outlet.
When a signal is applied, power consumption changes constantly (above the "baseline" of 50W), depending on the SPL at any given instant.
I would suspect that the 2800 would be similar. That 5 Amp spec is the maximum current draw, not the continuous.
Todd

 

[Bob Tarabella]

So then, according to your measured tests, if the receiver input is set to TV, but the TVis turned off, I can expect it to use about as much power as a 50 watt light bulb?

 

[Chris PC]

I aim to have all of my equipment disconnected (switched off by a wall switch) when not in use, except maybe the VCR for programming. I like knowing that when I'm not using it, its not drawing any power at all, and there is much less chance of a storm zapping my stuff

 

[Steven Lin]

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my 3 Brystons consume over 500 watts when idle! Not a good thing in California.

 

[Todd Hochard]

So then, according to your measured tests, if the receiver input is set to TV, but the TVis turned off, I can expect it to use about as much power as a 50 watt light bulb?

Exactly correct. This is with the receiver turned ON, of course. With it in standby (turned off, if you will), it's only about 2W.
The Brystons are big power consumers. They actually put the specs on the website. I looked at the 4B, and it consumes 186W while idle (on, but no signal applied). That's a lot, but then again, ANY amp that's biased toward Class A operation is going to be a big power consumer.
Todd

 

[Bob Tarabella]

I aim to have all of my equipment disconnected (switched off by a wall switch) when not in use, except maybe the VCR for programming. I like knowing that when I'm not using it, its not drawing any power at all, and there is much less chance of a storm zapping my stuff

I thought of using the switched AC outlet on the back of the receiver for the TV, but was concerned that I'd lose settings in memory on the TV. Also wont the TV take a lot longer to turn on from a cold start?

 

[Todd Hochard]

I thought of using the switched AC outlet on the back of the receiver for the TV, but was concerned that I'd lose settings in memory on the TV. Also wont the TV take a lot longer to turn on from a cold start?

I wouldn't do this. The TV is a relatively large power consumer (150W for Direct View, 200-300 for RPTV), and you don't want that sort of load being pulled through the receiver. Depending on the set, you may lose your memory settings, also.
The biggest standby power consumer in your stack is likely to be a digital cable box, or digital satellite receiver. The cable boxes vary, but your basic sat box will consume 30W or so, even in standby. This is due to the LNB always being powered.
Anything that has an Energy Star logo on it has a low standby power consumption, usually

 

[Randy G]

Just to give an idea about energy costs, here in Illinois, one kilowatt costs about a dime/hr. So if you extrapolate, a piece of equipment which draws 100 watts/hr will cost 100 x 2.4kw(24 hrs a day) or .24 per day. That's about $7.50/month or $90 per year!!.....starts getting expensive to leave pieces of equipment running.

 

[Alan Wild]

I like knowing that when I'm not using it, its not drawing any power at all, and there is much less chance of a storm zapping my stuff

A wall switch will address the first issue. You can be certain that the devices aren't drawing power.
However, your kidding yourself if you think turning off a wall switch will protect you from storms.
Any kind of surge that carries enough power to damage equipment (assuming the equipment is on a reasonable surge/suppressor) will easily arc and jump accross a switch and reach your components.
The only real protection from a storm is unplugging it completely or good insurance.
My mother's office several years ago lost several computers in a lightning storm and all of the machines were on surge surpressors. I beleive the lightning entered through a modem connected to one machine and then travelled accross the thinnet network cables to dammage the other computers.
The point is lightning will find a way. As long as there is physical connectivity there is a path. Every connection in your system needs to be surge surpressed and that includes RF cable wires, phone lines, and of course power lines.
Oh yeah.... if your bring a networked HTPC into the mix you better have power conditioners on all the other computers on the network, printers, hubs, switches, etc. etc. etc.
All of this should protect you from moderate surges. If anyone of these things is physically connected to an electric line during a lightning storm you are banking on either the probability that you won't get struck or your insurance policy.
No consumer grade surge surpressors can handle a direct lightning strike.
-Alan

 

[Chris PC]

Yeah, I guess that was wishfull thinking about the lightning strike. One thing I always do though, is when I go away on a trip camping or going out of town, I always unplug everything from the wall sockets completely. So what about if the device is on when the lightning strikes? Is that worse? Knock on wood, I have never had a lightning strike do anything to our household equipment at all. We have lost power before, but we have never had a surge or lightning zap our stuff. I guess thats just luck or the transformer on the pole outside our house.
Is there any sort of switch you can use in your house that separates the contacts enough that when OFF the lightning is not able to bridge the gap?
[Edited last by Chris PC on September 04, 2001 at 07:47 PM]