I wondered how much electricity my stereo and tv were using up. I have a Kill-a-watt meter that provides a reading of how many watts are going through an electric outlet. Normally I have it hooked up to my computer (btw, monitor = 30W, desktop = 90-120W, laptop charing = 35W).
Our power has a fixed and variable cost, roughly 10 cents per KWh plus $6.50 fixed. And reading the numbers on the Kill-a-watt was hard since they bounced around a bit. It does have a cumulative mode, so perhaps I’ll use that the next time I watch a movie.
My stuff
- Denon 3805 receiver
- NAD 2600A amp (the Denon doesn’t like my 4 ohm speakers)
- Clearview active crossover (not tested specifically)
- Original Xbox (no games, just XBMC)
- Panasonic S-97s DVD player
- Panasonic 42" plasma TV
- Powered NHT1259 sub
Interesting tidbits
- Turning my powered subwoofer off when not in use would save me $1.25 per month (2%) since it’s standby mode is very thirsty. It does have a relay (you can hear it click on) but standby of 18W vs use of 25W is small. It’s using 2% of my total power, but that’s with 2 window AC units, 2 box fans, microwave, toaster oven, and electric dryer in regular use. As they say "Slow and steady wins (loses?) the race".
- 42" Plasma TV is rather thirsty and variable depending on dark vs bright scenes
- Watching a movie costs only about 6 cents in power
- Leaving my amp on (as many recommend) would cost about $42/yr
- My server is using an estimated 16% of my power (assuming 150W — it may be a bit lower)
I’d be interested to hear readings from anyone with a larger (42+ inch) LCD tv. What I read was that the backlight on the big LCD screens is surprisingly thirsty, on par with plasma.