Automatic timers on household power-suckers

 So I noticed that my cable box is using 20-30W while it's *off* so I hooked
it along with the cable modem wall wart and some power-sucking-while-standby
speaker systems together on one power strip and set a timer on that power
strip so that it's not on in the middle of the night.  What do you guys do
to nip low-drain 24-hour power usage?  What other things would be good to
put on a timer?  Water heater not so much, I've discovered.

--
Phil

 

How much power does the timer use?


Dennis (evil)
--
"There is a fine line between participation and mockery" - Wally

 Dennis wrote:

I just measured an old mechanical lamp timer with a Kill-a-Watt, and it
seems to draw about 1W of power.  The cable box shouldn't have to be off
very much of the time for that to pay off.

   - Logan

 Logan Shaw wrote:

My mechanical timer is 1W, too, tested with a KAW.

--
Phil

 
  How did you get that measurement for cable box power consumption?  It
sounds awfully high to me.

  Consider that power going into a cable box is nearly enough 100%
converted to heat.  Consider what 20-30 watts of heat is:

  A 27 watt compact fluorescent produces about 5 watts of light and close
to 22 watts of heat.

  A 60 watt incandescent has a little over half its power input becoming
radiation, mostly infrared, causing heat to materialize where the
radiation is absorbed.  A little less than half the 60 watts becomes heat
at the bulb surface.

  If the cable box does actually consume 20-30 watts, then I think it
makes sense to put it on a timer.  Since you have other power suckers on
the same power strip, I think the timer is a good way to go.

  If cable boxes that consume 20-30 watts when "off" are actually common,
then I think some energy standard is in order to reduce that.  That is
about 14.4-22 KWH per month.

 - Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)