I have KRK 6's plus a KRK 10" Sub
I have them plugged into a UPS and it's awkward to turn them off each evening.
Do powered monitors use much power when not playing?

Producer Exp x1d 
Win XP, intel Core2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.4 GHz, 2 GHz RAM  
Nvidia gforce 8500 GT    
BR800 controller , DR880 drum machine. GR20 guitar synth, Alesis QX25 
KRK 6 + 10" sub.   Sennheiser HD280pro cans  
2 Yamaki acoustics, Korean Strat, 60's Jazzmaster, 60's BF Deluxe Reverb,   

 

Firstly there is no need to have your active monitors plugged into a UPS. You are just adding extra load onto your UPS and it is unnecessary. Your UPS really only needs to power your computer and monitor so you can do a save in the event of a power failure.

Secondly, yes powered or active monitors do draw power even when they are doing nothing. We call this the quiescent power draw or idle power draw. Over a year it would certainly add up to your power bill.

You really should shut everything down when you are not using your studio. It is NOT a good idea to leave anything running, especially if you go out for any period of time. People who leave things on permanently are simply wrong and silly IMO. There is nothing to be gained from it. I have been turning everything off for the last 32 years and have never had anything fail as a result. Windows also likes being shut down and rebooted as well.

You are setting yourself up for a fire hazard if you do leave things on permanently. What happens if something decides to set itself alight while you are away. It happens, houses burn down! Put your speakers on a switchable power board and simply flick one switch to bring them on and off. And in the right order of course. Speakers last when powering up and off first when powering down.

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Jeff Evans


Firstly there is no need to have your active monitors plugged into a UPS. You are just adding extra load onto your UPS and it is unnecessary. Your UPS really only needs to power your computer and monitor so you can do a save in the event of a power failure.

Secondly, yes powered or active monitors do draw power even when they are doing nothing. We call this the quiescent power draw or idle power draw. Over a year it would certainly add up to your power bill.

You really should shut everything down when you are not using your studio. It is NOT a good idea to leave anything running, especially if you go out for any period of time. People who leave things on permanently are simply wrong and silly IMO. There is nothing to be gained from it. I have been turning everything off for the last 32 years and have never had anything fail as a result. Windows also likes being shut down and rebooted as well.

You are setting yourself up for a fire hazard if you do leave things on permanently. What happens if something decides to set itself alight while you are away. It happens, houses burn down! Put your speakers on a switchable power board and simply flick one switch to bring them on and off. And in the right order of course. Speakers last when powering up and off first when powering down.

+1. I always turn everything off. I have a Monster Power Pro 3500 and 2500 that everything is hooked to so turning everything off is easy.

X-2a, Windows 7 64bit, 16Gb ram, 4 Tb HDD, 32 inch monitor, RME FireFace UFX, Shure SRH1840 Headphones, KRK Rockit 5 monitors w/ KRK 10 inch sub.