Cable boxes and DVRs use more power than refrigerators

Neowin.net, ^ | Christopher White

[hometoroost]

Nah, he’ll just give everyone an iPod of his speeches and some DVDs that were burned in England.

[CrazyIvan]

Hey, we can live without food.

But not cold beer.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

At least the fridge shuts off once in a while.

Your AC adapters (transformers) run 24/7. You can put them all on power strips and shut them off when you’re not using them.

[Prokopton]

The Dept. of Energy lists a small, 16 cubic foot refrigerator at 725 killowatt-hours.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “There’s something worthy of recording on TV these days?” <<

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Not that I know of; that’s probably why I don’t own a DVR.

[libertarian27]

Great Catch *snicker*

[RayChuang88]

You can make a DVR use a LOT less power by using the same CPU boards used in the latest low-powered laptops or use a CPU circuit board based off the really low-power ARM CPU architecture. And make the hard drive use less power by making them spin at very low speeds (maybe 1500 rpm at most) before kicking them up to full speed during the recording and playback of TV shows.

[ninergold3]

Thumbs Up!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Build your own?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Back to the caves?...

[Secret Agent Man]

Our dvr only turns on about a minute before it records. Also have set top boxes that are only on when we turn them on.

[SunkenCiv]

Photovoltaics and windmills and nobuddy can tell me whud to do! ;’)

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Build your own?” <<

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And hack the proproprietary access codes to make it work?

[Revel]

I figured this out sometime ago when I upgraded my cable box. When it is turned on then it puts out a ton of heat. I turn it off when I am not using it, and it is cool when it is off...So it uses much less power then.