How much power are you using?

I have got an electrician living next door and today I borrowed his current meter so I could do some tests to see how much power things in the studio drew. It was very interesting and quite revealing.

The average desktop computer (and monitor) pulls 200 watts off the power so for those who like leaving them on permanently I say you are throwing money away. Would you leave 2 x 100 watt lights on all year round. If the answer is no then turn off your computers. That is for a standard dual core with nothing special so I know some of you might have quite bigger computers and the power goes up accordingly. Now even off in standby mode they are drawing 30 watts. Quite a lot I think. I have got two desktops in my studio so that is 60 watts when they are off or on standby off that is. I have rigged up a switch now to completely shut them off. 

Mackie HR824's are drawing about 40 watts when they are silent. (much more of course if you are running them flat out 250 to 300 watts !) 

I have also got 4 CDROM drives and 2 hard drives connected to my hardware samplers. When they are all on they draw 80 watts. I have got them switched so I can turn them all off easily once I have found sounds and loaded them in.

I have got a half rack filled with gear and when everything is on it draws about 300 watts.

Coffee machine in idle mode pulls a hefty 1000 watts. 

If I turn everything on I own it draws about 800 watts (while the speakers are quiet that is) Much better than the time I owned over 50 keyboard and rack mounted instruments. That would have hit over 2500 watts with everything on. Lots to be said for in the box mixing and all digital setups. Much cooler and cheaper to run.

I am not sure about electricity prices in the US but here they are starting to go through the roof and become quite unbelievable. Good time to be careful.  

And talk about Craig's song about the Grid going down. We had a situation here in Melbourne where the load was so great on the power system that parts of the city had to be blacked out. During very hot times people are running their air cons and the load must be massive. But you now blackouts can be good too. A lot of communication and interruption is cutoff and you have to be very present with the people you happen to be with. Could be just yourself too. Good time to meditate and do some constructive work on your subconscious mind.

Very informative, Jeff. I guess I am somewhat 'old-school' in that my mother taught me if you are not in the room, then turn it off. I pretty much follow this today if I don't think I will be back for awhile.
 
The PC in standby mode has always been a curiosity for me. I just assumed it would be draining less than 30-watts. You didn't check 'hibernate' mode by chance?

I actually unplug everything I'm not using.

I'm weird that way.


Dad was an engineer at power plants.

Hey there KenB123 I have continued on with some more measurements and come up with some more info.

One of my computers draws 26W when in the complete off state. This includes the monitor being on in standby mode with its indicator ON on the front panel. When computer is booted and running it reached 209W. I put it into sleep mode or hibernate as you say and the power did not change, still the same at 26W.

What I found interesting was after switching off the monitor and the front panel indicator went completely dark, the power was still the same at 26W. It was not until I removed the power cord from the monitor that the power dropped to 21W. So lights out on the front of your monitors means nothing power wise. (For my Benq anyway)

My computer is a little older and more modern designs may feature less idle current for the motherboard. This figure only represents my particular machine.

I have got two computers and two monitors.  One of the monitors is an older Dell model and it needs 10W to be in standby mode. The Benq monitor for my main machine is a later model and only draws 5W. The other computer is also an older 800Mhz machine that I use as a single virtual instrument and it only needs 10W to be in standby/off. So all up I need 46W to keep both computers and their monitors off but in standby.

Now I have put all on a circuit that can be switched completely off. It is the only way to get the reading to zero amps. 46W 24/7 to zero is worthwhile over the long term.

Hey Mike, regarding those LED lights: are they quiet? Electrically, I mean. Since they are turning off and on rapidly, the load is constantly changing. And because multiple devices would be switching in unison, the more LEDs you have the greater the effect will be. I've avoided LEDs for that reason, but I may be basing my prejudice on devices from 40 years ago.

mike_mccue


I actually unplug everything I'm not using.

I'm weird that way.


Dad was an engineer at power plants.

So when Dad went home he turned off unplugged the power plant?

Interesting thread. Thanks for posting that Jeff.

I was curious when we first moved here from Quebec and was expecting a big bump in the power bill. Since I haven't worked all that much during our first month here because we were on vacation, it's still hard to tell. Plus I didn't have all of my equipment, anyway. 

That being said, I only power up the things that I need when I need them. Outboard compressors, Pod, preamps, and all that stuff are off, unless I'm using one of them to record. Same for the secondary monitors which I have yet to hook up. And of course, I turn everything off at night.

 Great thread Jeff. I use an "intelligent" outlet strip in the studio. The peripheral equipment to the DAW is only powered when the smart outlet strip senses the DAW come on.My other computer and all wall warts are off on a power strip unless I need them. This has worked really well. I have my monitors powered through another redundant strip with switches on my desk in case I'm using headphones.

 Another side benefit to this is that if we get a storm or power surges while I'm away the equipment is safe unless lightening comes in the window.

 My studio is trivial though compared to my electric dryer,stove, and water heater.Amazing how all if those wall warts can add up.

It is amazing how much RF noise those CFL and LED lights put off. 

I witnessed an RF noise  "sniff" last week on a job site. The ceiling florescent and the CFL's in the desk lamps in the office were extremely noisy. While that noise was up above the audible range, in one location in the building the sniffer picked up the sub harmonic of 1/2 the operating frequency our antennas were looking for.... I know the sub harmonics are much weaker generally than the higher order harmonics but they are there none the less...and in this case.... that would have placed the harmonics in the audio range just a few halvings down from the prime frequency.  We operate centered on 66khz ..half that is 33khz ...half that is 16.5khz and that is in the audible range for most people except old musicians.  

It was also of interest to note that the noise picked up by the sniffer was fairly localized. Most of the noise sources required the antenna on the sniffer to be within 3 to 4 feet to hear it above the ambient noise floor. 

So if you have a malfunctioning CFL ballast, it is very possible to get audible sub harmonics on the power line and radiating into the air waiting to be picked up by unshielded and defective cabling..... 

All that aside...... I use CFL's in my studio without problems. The lamp is 3' or more from the gear and cables. 

How much am I using?

All that I need.
As long as it goes where it's suppose to I don't
worry about it.
I work so my family and I can be comfortable.
Of course we turn off stuff when we don't need it.

I also don't know how much water I use to brush my teeth.

craigb

sharke


If you have a freezer that's mainly empty you can save $$$'s by filling it with jugs of water or polystyrene blocks or something. 

Gotta leave room for the bodies though, ya?

Yes I always leave room for at least two college students, although I might have to thaw one of them out depending on how long this hurricane lasts.