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?

Refrigerators and freezers are a huge power drain. It's worth asking yourself, do I need everything this cold? It might be worth backing the fridge dial off a notch if you can. Also, the fuller your freezer, the less electricity it uses. 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. 

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.

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?

 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.

I awitched to a big flat screen LED HDTV... just trying to do my part and yes, I do need the fridge that cold. I keep it on 33 and the Cokes are GREAT!.

All my studio stuff gets turned off and the power strips switched off and unpugged. I have 5 recessed indoor spots in the kitchen that have been bothering me. I use 65w Reveal bulbs but have been giving a lot of thought to switching to the new LED Reveal bulbs. They look a little different but not much. I've begin the switch to LED floods outside.. there are 6 out there, I've changed two so far. We leave them on at night and I think between the kitchen and the outdor floods.... it will make a difference. I refuse to sweat (or freeze) at night though. In the summer we keep it rather chilly in here. I have some thermostat controlled gas logs to help heating but if I only use them, the back of the house gets cold... I have a small electric heater in the master bath but only use it sometimes in the AM. Once the house warms up it tends to stay pretty warm unless the wind is really bowing. We have double pane windows and good insulation. HE major appliances etc.
The only time we have a really high power bill is for July and somewhat for August... July pushes 500 bucks.

J

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. 

At the big foot ball games if we don't use our assigned frequencies the guy with the RF sniffer will come grab us and eject us from the premises.

:-)

Those guys scare me. 

:-)

I didn't know they did it with houses too. Cool stuff. Thanks for explaining about it Herb.


best regards,
mike

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.

On the subject of CFL lights and also the tube versions.., if you have birds, keeping them under florescent light is like if you sat and stared all day into a strobe light.