dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
22777

northutica
Premium Member
join:2002-02-07
Utica, NY

1 recommendation

northutica

Premium Member

I always wondered why my cable box was so hot.

I would like to cut the power to it at bedtime but it takes so long to boot up it is not feasible.

»www.latimes.com/nation/l ··· l#page=1
scross
join:2002-09-13
USA

1 recommendation

scross

Member

If it's self-booting, then you could maybe put it on a timer.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
Don't cable boxes have a energy save mode? A sleep mode as it were? I remember my DirecTV boxes had something like that.... you could disable it as well, but basically if it didnt register any remote control activity for a set time (I believe you could choose between 2, 4 and 6 hours), it would just go into sleep mode.... similar to a laptop that sleeps. (It would wake up a minute or two before scheduled recordings if there were any)

You could turn it off of course if you just want the TV to be always on. Now, I haven't had cable since the Scientific Atlanta 8300 days, which I had like 6, 7 years ago.... I am presuming that nowadays cable boxes are a bit more configurable, and something like that exist somewhere in the menus.

Also, about the cable box being hot..... many people bury them somewhere between their bluray player a shelf, a speaker, or even under the TV stand.

Don't do that. They need to be able to breathe a little, just like a computer. Overheating could cause box failures, or hard drive failures. If possible, put it where the top of the cable box has at least half a foot (6 inches) of space above it, so it can expel the heat.
Phroz
join:2005-11-23
Lewiston, ME

1 recommendation

Phroz

Member

DVRs are always on unless you physically unplug them. Turning the box off just stops the video display.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

2 recommendations

Happydude32 to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
Cutting to power to the box every night would cause you to miss software updates and guide updates.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

said by Happydude32:

Cutting to power to the box every night would cause you to miss software updates and guide updates.

And getting guide updates take forever.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by antdude:

said by Happydude32:

Cutting to power to the box every night would cause you to miss software updates and guide updates.

And getting guide updates take forever.

Only on iGuide (it's legacy software loading mechanism really sucks). Navigator (even SARA) is faster and does have a power saving mode.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
I wonder what about other boxes like TiVo [tivo.com]? I wonder if making your own HTPCs with cable cards would better. I think you lose features like ondemand though.

Suit Up
join:2003-07-21
Los Angeles, CA
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X
TP-Link Archer C7

1 recommendation

Suit Up

Member

said by antdude:

I wonder if making your own HTPCs with cable cards would better.

While you could theoretically save on power with a low power HTPC and putting it to sleep when not in use, the primary impetus for using a HTPC with CableCard is to save on TWC's rental fees, not really for power savings... if saving that money (which is at least $10/month) isn't worth it to people, then the few bucks that might be saved on power per month isn't gonna be worth it...
said by antdude:

I think you lose features like ondemand though.

I never use OnDemand anyway... but it is available with the HTPC's web browser and twctv.com

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89 to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
The boxs at my TV use very little power but it's the media gateway that uses a lot of power. & I can't turn it off since that means I would lose Internet & Wi-fi. (I have Ultra TV)
chip89

chip89 to Happydude32

Premium Member

to Happydude32
Even worse for me since that means I would lose wi-fi & net that means things like no Windows update. Or safety stuff like if there is a Tornado Waring at night it would't go though.
jh2010
join:2009-09-03
Brooklyn, NY

jh2010 to northutica

Member

to northutica
The article is a little misleading. "can consume as much as 35W" does not mean 35W on average for the entire month. As another person quoted, in a related article, having a 1000W Power supply in a PC does not mean it will draw 1000W all of the time.

You can plug in a meter(like a killawatt meter) to see how much your STB consumes. Don't forget to multiply it by the number of STBs in your house/APT.

The older the box(all things being equal) the more power it is likely to consume. DVRs will likely consume more power as they need to power the HDD.

My 8 year old Sony Rear Projection TV can consume 17W in standby mode. My new TV is about .1-.2W in Standby(about 100 times better). STBs and DVRs should be able to get close to this figure in the next few years(in standby mode only. Not recording anything or streaming recordings to other boxes).
Phroz
join:2005-11-23
Lewiston, ME

1 recommendation

Phroz

Member

said by jh2010:

The article is a little misleading. "can consume as much as 35W" does not mean 35W on average for the entire month.

The old Motorola DVRs we have here (DCH6416) do consume a constant 45W (well, it's really about 43W when "off" and 45W when on, but it's close enough). Newer boxes are probably a little more efficient.

With my current electric rate of $0.16/kWh, that comes out to ~$5/month.

Add that to the $25/month fee for the DVR, and, well, that's a scary number.
jh2010
join:2009-09-03
Brooklyn, NY

jh2010 to northutica

Member

to northutica
In NYC I pay $.27-33 per kWh (inc taxes and charges).
That would make about $120 per year for your box. :-(
Satch
join:2009-11-25

Satch to northutica

Member

to northutica
said by northutica:

I would like to cut the power to it at bedtime but it takes so long to boot up it is not feasible.

»www.latimes.com/nation/l ··· l#page=1

Important basics that people forget,

Your box should be in an open, if possible, cool, but not cold, area. If it is a cabinet, preferably no door on the cabinet.

The ventilation holes on the front and sides should not be blocked. Northutica, have you checked this?

What about getting a little tiny fan, and set it on low, and have it blow cool air into the vents? It would bring the temperature down.

Do some of the boxes run that much cooler than others? I am sure the newer ones do. But by how much of a temperature difference?

Satch

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

mackey

Premium Member

said by Satch:

What about getting a little tiny fan, and set it on low, and have it blow cool air into the vents? It would bring the temperature down.

You are completely missing the point. Your response to 'the box is a power hog and generates a large amount of heat' is to burn even more power and put a fan on it? Seriously? How about instead we make them release more energy efficient boxes which will naturally put out much less heat and thus run cooler?

For our purposes we can say all power used by a box is converted into heat. This means a box drawing 45W will also be putting out 45W of heat; of course that sucker's gonna be hot! During the summer your A/C will also use more power removing that heat from your house.

Also, why should we care if their box is running hot? They don't care about our power bill. Let it run hot; if it fails, well, that's why they're rented and not sold. Perhaps next time they'll give you a more efficient box which will run cooler.

/M

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
Windows Media center is designed to use PC's sleep, and will schedule a hardware wake timer to make recordings. Just pray that your motherboard doesn't have a buggy ACPI implementation.

The problem I always had was that it never put itself back to sleep after a recording. I ended up making manual tasks to sleep the computer at certain times to counteract this.

DirecTV's HR2x boxes use pretty much the same amount of power on or off. Not sure if this has improved with the Genie or not. However, their newer boxes are a lot more efficient than the cableco gear.

I think AT&T U-verse has the most efficient boxes, they actually power the hard drives down when they're in sleep mode.
Phroz
join:2005-11-23
Lewiston, ME

Phroz

Member

said by djrobx:

I think AT&T U-verse has the most efficient boxes, they actually power the hard drives down when they're in sleep mode.

I know they are energy star certified. The requirement right now for DVRs is 14W or less. The Tivo Roamios are right around the 14-16W mark, which is still quite impressive.

That's 3 times less power than these old Moto boxes are using.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

2 edits

Anonymous_ to northutica

Premium Member

to northutica
Click for full size
said by northutica:

I would like to cut the power to it at bedtime but it takes so long to boot up it is not feasible.

»www.latimes.com/nation/l ··· l#page=1

LOL @ 500 watts

must have been the max for that extra outlet on the box

oh shit my BOX is using 500Watts lol

same as a washing machine
jh2010
join:2009-09-03
Brooklyn, NY

jh2010 to northutica

Member

to northutica
They really need to get people that know what they are talking about.

northutica
Premium Member
join:2002-02-07
Utica, NY

northutica to Anonymous_

Premium Member

to Anonymous_
My cable box is just a standard HD box for digital cable. No DVR or extra's. It is very warm to the touch even if it is turned off. The only way to allow it to cool off is to unplug it. It is not hidden between other devices. It sits alone on a lower shelf and has plenty enough air space around it. It may not draw as many amps as a refrigerator but a refrigerator does not run 24/7/365. I am sure if the math was done correctly this device can be a proven energy hungry device. Just part of having the luxury of many digital cable television channels.

PamelaTS
Digital Chick
join:2004-04-20
Dallas, TX
Asus RT-AC66
HTC 5G Hub

1 recommendation

PamelaTS to antdude

Member

to antdude
said by antdude:

I wonder what about other boxes like TiVo [tivo.com]? I wonder if making your own HTPCs with cable cards would better. I think you lose features like ondemand though.

TiVo has a sleep mode that turns all lights off, video output off. And still records, downloads updates. You must manually activate this mode and pressing any button on the remote or face of the device deactivated it turning the lights on and video output on. You can actually turn the front lights off all the time.

dillyhammer
START me up
Premium Member
join:2010-01-09
Scarborough, ON

dillyhammer to Phroz

Premium Member

to Phroz
said by Phroz:

With my current electric rate of $0.16/kWh, that comes out to ~$5/month.

My rate currently sits at $0.21/kWh all in, but regardless.

Now take that $5 a month, and multiply that by how many boxes are in service in North America.

What a waste. The industry should be shamed. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mike

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

Click for full size
TWC is working on a "boxless" project and probably has the best support for non-cable box options already:
»www.cedmagazine.com/news ··· ss-world

northutica
Premium Member
join:2002-02-07
Utica, NY

northutica

Premium Member

This is great to hear. Get rid of all the boxes. Save money and energy. All things considered these boxes are in fact costly.

Suit Up
join:2003-07-21
Los Angeles, CA

1 recommendation

Suit Up to DocDrew

Member

to DocDrew
Is TWC TV ever going to support recording? Until then, it can't truly replace a box.
CJ777
join:2004-10-05
Los Angeles, CA

CJ777 to northutica

Member

to northutica
My DCX-3510M powers down the hard drive when it goes into sleep mode. When you power the unit back up you can hear the drive wind back to life. No other cable box I've had ever did this. I also did notice my electric bill being a little lower after I got this box.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to dillyhammer

Premium Member

to dillyhammer
said by dillyhammer:

said by Phroz:

With my current electric rate of $0.16/kWh, that comes out to ~$5/month.

My rate currently sits at $0.21/kWh all in, but regardless.

Now take that $5 a month, and multiply that by how many boxes are in service in North America.

What a waste. The industry should be shamed. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

People will rather spend $80 a month to let their 15 year old fridge cool things, instead of buying a new fridge that can do it for $30.

Now the numbers may not be factual, but I do know fridges have pretty much halved their energy usage since the 90s.

That said, my computes are on 24/7.

dillyhammer
START me up
Premium Member
join:2010-01-09
Scarborough, ON

dillyhammer

Premium Member

said by maartena:

People will rather spend $80 a month to let their 15 year old fridge cool things, instead of buying a new fridge that can do it for $30.

Now the numbers may not be factual, but I do know fridges have pretty much halved their energy usage since the 90s.

That one's tough. A decent fridge is $1000. You're asking people to look past the trees and see the forest.

But yeah. They're more efficient now than ever.
said by maartena:

That said, my computes are on 24/7.

I used to. Now I turn it off. I have everything but the main rig on a switch that cuts power. Phantom draw is a big chunk of a utility bill.

Mike
James_C
join:2007-08-03
Florence, KY

James_C

Member

You hardly ever break even replacing an appliance to save power. The newer generations of appliances don't last as long and cost more to repair, never mind the additional materials and energy used to make them and the landfill to dispose of the old one.

A much smarter way to make a fridge run more efficiency and last longer is to fill the empty space and keep it full... even plastic bags full of nothing but air, let alone liquids in the fridge or blocks of ice in the freezer, make it run much more efficiently by reducing outside-inside air exchange every time the door is opened.