[mythtv-users] recommendations?: energy efficient FE/BE system

[Dave MythTV]

On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 12:27 PM, Gary Buhrmaster <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com
> wrote:

> On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 5:46 PM, Will Dormann <wdormann at gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
> > My Prime uses 3 watts idle, 4 watts recording.    Which ends up being
> > about $5 a year.   In other words, the point where the aspect of power
> > usage probably shouldn't even enter your mind.
>
> I think you are missing the point that some people will
> choose as a hobby an attempt to reduce their energy
> footprint to the minimum, including painting the house
> white in summer, and black in winter to increase the
> reflection or absorption of the solar energy (or get those
> fancy tiles that change color automatically (did they
> commercialize them yet?)).
>
> While some might choose differently, more (less?)
> power to them.
>
> MythTV is a hobby too, and some people will spend
> many many hours (which if they looked at their
> hourly rate might cost them thousands of dollars
> per year) in addition to the obvious hardware costs
> for care and feeding of their systems.  It is a choice.
>
>

Yep, that's pretty much it.  :-)

3W idle and 4W recording for the HDHR (Prime) is on par with what the LIVA
itself uses.  I just put my meter on one of my USB tuners, and it measures
0.05 watts when idle, and 0.56 watts when recording.    So for a
triple-tuner use case like mine, with USB tuners, I'm at just 0.15W idle
and 1.68W with all three recording.   The two options are in a *completely*
different league for power consumption.

Low power consumption isn't just about costs...  it opens up new use
cases.  My UPS is the size of a paperback book, and has a runtime estimate
of 15+ hours. Our power fluctuates in the summer and we've had several
lengthy outages over the years...  I just don't have to worry about that
anymore.    And we're at the point where a purely solar powered system
becomes a very feasible realistic option, with just a modest size panel,
even for areas of sub-optimal sunlight conditions.

Yes, it takes more work than it is worth.  The good news?  We have a
mailing list and share information.  I've benefited greatly from the work
of others, and I can pass my information along as well.   So the next
person who wants an ultra-low-power MythTV machine?  They won't have to
invest hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of time in doing the
research, purchases, and measurements - they can just build one from the
recipe.   There's a multiplier on the savings.  :-)

- Dave
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