# Power consumption?



## mcholak (Dec 27, 2011)

I'm considering upgrading to Genie for a number of reasons. One of the things I'm trying to weigh is the cost of running my two boxes now. I'm currently running a HR22-100 and an HR21-700. I've heard horror stories of DVR's using as much power as a refrigerator. I don't know that I believe that, but I don't have any way to test/confirm that. Do any of you know how much power these units are using? I'd assume the C31 uses relatively little power since there is no hard drive, tuner, etc?


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## Mike Greer (Jan 20, 2004)

Nope! Not anywhere close to a refrigerator!

I measured an HR24-500 once and it seem like it was somewhere around 20 Watts. I'd expect the the HR21/22/23 to be pretty close....


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## Mike Greer (Jan 20, 2004)

More info here:

http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/168484-power-use-of-various-directv-receivers/


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

They use way less energy than a 60W light bulb....I believe the figure is the 30-40W range. Not even on the same planet as a refrigerator, wherever you read that from I would stop reading info there, cos they dont have a clue.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

This might be where that came from:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20071139-260/study-dvr-set-top-box-use-most-energy-at-home/


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## h_a_h_3 (Apr 8, 2008)

I measured my new HR44 at 19-20 watts with my kill-a-watt, C41 client at 4 watts - didn't really change whether it was "off" or "on". My previous HR21 drew about 40 watts all the time. Cable company DVRs that get really hot to the touch could certainly be using more power - my 21ft3 fridge uses 260W with the compressor running but only 6W when it's not for an average of about 60W over time.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

mcholak said:


> I'm considering upgrading to Genie for a number of reasons. One of the things I'm trying to weigh is the cost of running my two boxes now. I'm currently running a HR22-100 and an HR21-700.


The HR2x series consume about 24W (203kWh/year) (NOT including the 5W DECA adapter) according to Steve Dulac, a director in DIRECTV's Engineering Department. The Genie is just a little over 29W (240kWh/year.



> I'd assume the C31 uses relatively little power since there is no hard drive, tuner, etc?


DECA makes up quite a bit of the C31/C41 power cost. Dulac's numbers are 6W when "active" and 5W when inactive for a net of 31kWh/year.

In the grand scheme you're probably looking at a difference of less than $10/year between worst case and best case (unless you live in Hawaii).

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/downloads/DirecTV-Dulac.pdf


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

Interesting that in 2016 they'll be an RVU client that can do "deep sleep". Thanks for posting.


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

Also Genie going down another 2 watts in the future.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

My R22 and R15's use about 25 watts. You save a big 2 watts by putting them in standby (whoppee). My D12 takes about 6 watts.
My EnergyStar Fridgidare refrigerator which is only a couple years old takes 100 watts (but, of course, it doesn't run 24 hours a day like a DVR). So considering how often the refrigerator runs (about 25% of the time) your assumption is correct-a DirecTV DVR takes as much electricity as a modern refrigerator!! :money:


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I've measured about 32 watts per box. You'd be better off changing a light bulb (or several) to CFL or LEDs. Something that's not productive.


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## mcholak (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks for all the replies and information! To clarify, I've read that some DVR's use as much power as a refrigerator, not that DTV's specifically do.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

h_a_h_3 said:


> Cable company DVRs that get really hot to the touch could certainly be using more power


On that same note, does anyone know how much power the SWM-8, SWM-16 and SWM LNB use. Both of the external switches can run hot.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

SWM16 is about 17 watts, not including the power it supplies the legacy LNB (another 9 watts or so) Sonora has a doc on this with more information on power draws than you'd ever want to know, though it doesn't include a SWM LNB.

http://sonoradesign.com/skins/sonora/customer/uploads/POWER_sheet.pdf

A device doesn't need to draw a lot of power to get extremely hot. It just needs to either not dissipate its heat through the air very well, and/or have a lot of its heat concentrated in a small area. Even a device that draws only a tenth fo a watt would get extremely hot in a vacuum (not that most of us run our SWM16s that way)


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## h_a_h_3 (Apr 8, 2008)

My SWM LNB adapter says max 25W on the label - a friend has my kill-a-watt temporarily.


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## JAYPB (May 8, 2002)

I know I'm a little late to the party but I'm just curious if everyone who responded to this discussion has multiple DVR's/HD-DVR's and is questioning the power consumption/usage.

I've never really bothered to look at my electric bill in comparison to my neighbors/friends, but with less money in my pocket this year we've started to look at ways to cut monthly costs....and the electric bill is the focus now. My neighbors bills aren't as high as mine. They also don't have 3 kids....or 8 DVR's in their household....and laptops and xbox's and....you get the idea.

I currently have 5 HD-DVR's (all in the HR20-HR 23 range). I also have 3 Directv Non-HD Dvr's.

Suffice to say my electric bill is like a car payment.

Obviously the level of recording we do in my house has the hard drives spinning all day/night.

Just wondering how much of my monthly bill is coming from the DVR portion of the electronics in my house.

Guess my question is: Does anyone have 8 DVR's running in your household? Your electric bill over $300/mth? You live in the northeast?

I'm going to have to get a hold of one of those kill-a-watt units to check how much draw my units are pulling on average.

:eek2:


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

JAYPB said:


> I know I'm a little late to the party but I'm just curious if everyone who responded to this discussion has multiple DVR's/HD-DVR's and is questioning the power consumption/usage.
> 
> I've never really bothered to look at my electric bill in comparison to my neighbors/friends, but with less money in my pocket this year we've started to look at ways to cut monthly costs....and the electric bill is the focus now. My neighbors bills aren't as high as mine. They also don't have 3 kids....or 8 DVR's in their household....and laptops and xbox's and....you get the idea.
> 
> ...


While the $300 gets your attention, what is your average kilowatt/day?
A rough count of 8 DVRs would be about 5 kilowatts/day, or two 100 watt lights running 24 hours.


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## randyk47 (Aug 21, 2006)

I really try not to worry about it.....until I read threads like this. :eek2: Luckily Mrs. K pays all the bills so it's a bit of "out of sight, out of mind" for me. When I look around the house I kind of shudder at what we have plugged in and running at some level. We've got iPad chargers, iPhone chargers, Harmony remote control chargers, wireless house phone system with a base and five handsets all on chargers, three DirecTV DVR's and a SWM16, three desktops and two laptops, all sorts of LAN routers/switches wired and wireless all on transformers, and the list goes on and on. That's not to mention the normal things in life like lights, blowers for our dual zone AC, refrigerators (2), freezer, washing machine and dryer, and my biggie is that several thousand gallon pool in my backyard with its three pumps. Yep.....the more I think about it the more I don't want to think about it. :sure:


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## JAYPB (May 8, 2002)

randyk47 said:


> I really try not to worry about it.....until I read threads like this. :eek2: Luckily Mrs. K pays all the bills so it's a bit of "out of sight, out of mind" for me. When I look around the house I kind of shudder at what we have plugged in and running at some level. We've got iPad chargers, iPhone chargers, Harmony remote control chargers, wireless house phone system with a base and five handsets all on chargers, three DirecTV DVR's and a SWM16, three desktops and two laptops, all sorts of LAN routers/switches wired and wireless all on transformers, and the list goes on and on. That's not to mention the normal things in life like lights, blowers for our dual zone AC, refrigerators (2), freezer, washing machine and dryer, and my biggie is that several thousand gallon pool in my backyard with its three pumps. Yep.....the more I think about it the more I don't want to think about it. :sure:


Lol. That's the spirit! That's where my mind was always at....until now. And I've got most of what you describe above...especially the electronics...in spades!


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## JAYPB (May 8, 2002)

veryoldschool said:


> While the $300 gets your attention, what is your average kilowatt/day?
> A rough count of 8 DVRs would be about 5 kilowatts/day, or two 100 watt lights running 24 hours.


I will have to check what the KW/day is on our bill. Add in the fact that the kids don't seem to understand how to hit the "sleep" button on their TV's when they fall asleep....or shut down their laptops....or turn off their xbox/ps3's/tablets when they are plugged in and charging.

It was pure torture living with them when Sandy hit! You never realize just how much *stuff* you have plugged in until you try and use a portable generator for a few hours at a time!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

When you realize the DVRs are about two 100 watt lights, you may find your "other toys" would be where you can find more savings.
I was able to offset a couple of DVRs by changing to CFL bulbs.


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## h_a_h_3 (Apr 8, 2008)

I'm at about 20kwh/day for my "baseline" spring/fall without heavy furnace blower or a/c usage. In addition to the HR44 & C41 hooked to 58" plasma and 40" LCD respectively, I have 3 PCs on 24x7. All are somewhat optimized for low power with 45W CPUs, small/quiet PSUs, fanless or onboard video, some SSDs, etc. One fridge that is pretty small (21ft3), a small chest freezer under the stairs. All CFL with a few LED bulbs. No pool and I got rid of the hot tub since I never used it outside. 2600ft2 house and I've had one power bill over $100, it was this summer on the 3rd-highest kwh month in 12 years I've been in the house. Electrical rates are inching up even in the hydro-heavy northwest. My wife of two years, despite driving a Prius, likes to make the furnace and A/C work overtime no matter the season to keep in her one degree comfort range. Happy wife, happy life!


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