[mythtv-users] Shutdown directtv box when idle

[Michael T. Dean]

On 10/03/06 23:22, John Sutherland wrote:

>Hi guys.. I have my myth backend setup on a machine that needs to be  
>up 24/7.. Its connected to a directv tuner via PVR350..
>
>What i would like to do is to turn off the tuner (in an effort to  
>save elect costs) when Myth is idle.. But not shut myth down..
>

I doubt turning it off will save any electricity.  Now, if you can rig 
up a system to unplug it when not in use...  A large percentage of 
consumer household appliances consume as much (or at least nearly as 
much) power when off as they do when on.

http://www.gatago.com/misc/consumers/frugal-living/14979908.html
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/133065.aspx
http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/history/topic/44502-1.html
http://www.ez-living.com/index.cfm?Section=60&PageNum=686&titles=0# 
(direct link doesn't seem to work for the FAQ entry, but search/scroll 
down to "Should I power off the receiver when it's not in use?")
http://mpiworld.com/rci/technical.htm#aq9

Note that it's pretty much the same for all STB's--DirecTV, TiVo, DISH, 
and likely all your cable-company "in house" designs.

And much more...

Find a friend with a Kill-A-Watt if you want to prove it to yourself.  
Or, spend $30 of the money you hoped to save on electricity costs to get 
yourself one.  (Been meaning to get myself one, anyway--thanks for the 
reminder--so I'll let you know what I find with my DISH receivers once 
it shows up. :)

You only need to power your receiver off once a month or so so it can do 
(or, in my case, try to do) the phone-home thing...  (I actually have to 
reboot my DISH receiver more often than my Myth box.)

Mike