[mythtv-users] Re: Energy Usage of MythBoxes

[John Andersen]

On Sunday 20 March 2005 09:24, Rich Hall wrote:
> William wrote:
> >Your typical 19 inch CRT monitor draws about 500 watts. They draw close to
> >1000 watts at startup (mostly due to filiment startup current and the
> >degausing coil). Your newer lcd displays draw less than 150 watts so there
> >is a huge savings energy wise. BTW your typical television draws about the
> >same current as the same size crt monitor. Function wise they are nearly
> >identical so you would expect the currents to be about the same too.
>
> Where did you get those numbers from??? I have been in the repair business
> for 40+ yrs and have measured the power consumption of a lot of equipment..
> Really simple to do.. measure the current and multiply it by the supply
> voltage = power. A typical 17-19" monito will consume between 100-140
> watts.. max.. the surge current does not matter in the grand scheme of
> things..

I agree with Rich here.  I use amprobe equipment 
  http://omnicontrols.com/lists/amprobere.html 
to measure draw on equipment (because we have
to do these tests on equipment we manufacture), especially
the high density machines (lots of drives, built in raid arrays etc).

I was initially surprised at how little they draw compared
to the rating printed on the power supplys.  (Deeper reading
into the power supply specs would often reveal that they could
not sustain their claimed rating for very long).

We even measure the power save mode on monitors to
see if there was any real saving.  Contrary to our suspicions
(we tend to be skeptical) we found that monitors really
do save a lot of power in powersave mode - not standby mode.
Newer ones save much more than older ones.

Letting a monitor go to power save kills off just most of the
load, and some models drop below 10 watts, (Christmas tree
bulb country).

My personal opinion (no research) is that the wear and tear
of power on/off does more damage to the equipment than 
letting it take care of itself and run 24/7.  

Fans may not start if cold, but once started they very
seldom stop.  Will it start again when your myth box
wakes up to record your show after it has been 
off for 24 hours?

-- 
______Jsa_________