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.

I worry about what will happen when we get to the point where the grid can't handle the demand.

I am, sort of, lucky to have grown up in a state where almost all the infrastructure is relatively new.

Florida has been, curiously, one of the last states in the union to become civilized. The "wild west" was settled long before Florida evolved from being a land of mysterious swamps to the sub urban mecca it is today.

I placed all LED lighting in my music building last year and the effect has been remarkable. I hope we can find ways to squeeze our requirements out of the current grid because it seems as if the high cost of fuel has cut into the profitability of the electric companies and the era of robust grid building is past us.




I think it's cool to use an amp meter and it can be very useful to learn how much you are using at any given time.


Good stuff.



best regards,
mike

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?

It is amazing all the power we consume without realizing it. Aside from the obvious things you mentioned...

They are called Parasitic devices..... they draw a small amount of current but a few watts here and a few watts there add up..... all the stuff like you mentioned that sits around on standby..... TV's, radios, just about every thing that has a clock in it with a display, cell phone chargers, the game consoles, anything that can be turned on with a remote control.....

In my office/studio the other night, after I turned out the lights to head downstairs, I noticed all the blue and red LED's glowing in the dark..... so I counted them....... 8 LED's for the various monitors, computer speakers, printer, power management strip/UPS, phones, and mouse...

And that did not include the Mackies and the sub because they are on a switch that gets cut off as does the DAW..... but the DAW monitor is on standby. 

hummmm... makes you think. 

I actually unplug everything I'm not using.

I'm weird that way.


Dad was an engineer at power plants.

My Espresso machine is probably killing my budget, 3 group Vibiemme Mercury Pulsant 5k watts, the electrical panels get toasty when it's on, but to hell with it, you can have it when you pry it from my cold dead hands :D

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.

"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."


Isn't that crazy?

That's why I just pull the plug.

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.

Hi Bit,
 I am using the type that are meant to replace normal incandescent bulbs:





 They cost $9.98 at Lowes and save so much energy the buy in cost gets covered FAST.

  http://tinyurl.com/8d4run4 

 I've got 12 of them in the ceiling of my mix room... :-) I was born in Miami and I like a bright feeling space. :-)
 

 I haven't heard any funny noises getting on my lines, but the whole setup is on Star Quad Canare cabling. 

 I haven't done much guitar hero stuff over there since putting the lights in but the little I have hasn't revealed any new interference noises on the pickups.


 I had been buying samples of LED lights on occasions for many years... waiting for the tech to come up to speed... these new cheap swap out models hit the retail market last spring and IMHO it's game over and time to throw out our old favorite bulbs.

 They don't really have a great replacement for the mini spots in my home but I hope it's coming soon.

 I never liked the CFLs but I am naively enthusiastic about these LEDs.


 all the best,
mike