Unplugging receivers and TV's to save energy

charlie1978

It's been awhile since I have purchased a new receiver or TV (over 10 years) and I have a question that I can't find the answer to.

With all these new features can you unplug them from the wall for extended periods of time without loosing the settings. It seems they must have a internal battery that saves the settings like a computer does, but I do not know.

The reason is I have my house set up so that I can turn off the electric outlets to certain appliances when they are not in use, I am not home or on vacation to save energy.

Thanks
Charlie

Sherardp

If you really want to save, just cut the main breaker when u go out.

Tony M

You have to leave the fridge, heaters and air cond set to min. of coarse I think he'd want to leave on though.Security lighting too..

Jetmaker737

I've had power outages at my house and never had to re-do any setups on my TV or AVR.

charlie1978

I save about 100 dollars a month now just by unplugging non essential electronics when not in use. If I didn't need the fridge I would probably cut the circuit breaker. I will ask onkyo directly.

Serendipity

No, your settings won't be lost. I unplug my Onkyo all the time.

turbopantera

Older equipment used super capacitors to save memory settings but those would only last a few hours. Some equipment used lithium batteries but those go dead as the equipment gets older. Most new stuff uses a form of nonvolitle memory called EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programable Read Only Memory) or a similary type of memory called FLASH which is what those USB memory sticks use. Equipment using this type of memory should retain the settings for years without power.

bigaudiofanatic

My neighbor has a onkyo with not problems when the power goes out. The sony tv however loses its time and freaks out asking that you set it again. But that goes away after about 30 seconds.

Retro152

charlie1978 wrote: »

I save about 100 dollars a month now just by unplugging non essential electronics when not in use. If I didn't need the fridge I would probably cut the circuit breaker. I will ask onkyo directly.

How many kilowatt hours per month do you allow yourself to enjoy your system?:rolleyes:




Pat

concealer404

charlie1978 wrote: »

I save about 100 dollars a month now just by unplugging non essential electronics when not in use. If I didn't need the fridge I would probably cut the circuit breaker. I will ask onkyo directly.

Holy crap... my total bill doesn't even approach $100, and i leave all my stuff plugged in, all the time, and even leave my amp, tube buffer, and tv box powered up 24/7.

Serendipity

concealer404 wrote: »

Holy crap... my total bill doesn't even approach $100, and i leave all my stuff plugged in, all the time, and even leave my amp, tube buffer, and tv box powered up 24/7.

You're lucky then. Here in NYC electric rates are insane!!

The key is to unplug stuff that gets warm when idle. For example, my sub amp gets hot to the touch if you put your hand on the plate amp.

I also used to run my HTPC 24/7 without power management (sleep/standby/hibernate) and it got hot as well. Now it's OFF unless necessary.

concealer404

Hrmm... yeah, that could be the difference. My electric bill is usually $60-$75 depending on whether. I leave the amp on because it sounds like crap for about 30 minutes after i figure power it up, so it's easier this way.

Serendipity

concealer404 wrote: »

Hrmm... yeah, that could be the difference. My electric bill is usually $60-$75 depending on whether. I leave the amp on because it sounds like crap for about 30 minutes after i figure power it up, so it's easier this way.

Indianapolis, IN electric rates must be cheap then.

concealer404

I guess... i'll have to see what the rates are. That said, i'm in a large-ish 1 bedroom apartment with pretty modern construction. No sprawling 100 year old 2 story house here, so i probably save a lot on heating and air conditioning costs.

Face

The only time my electric bill is over $100 is when I use my central A/C in the summer, even then it's only $120-150 max. The last couple of months it's been around $75-85, and I leave just about everything plugged in.

Serendipity

concealer404 wrote: »

I guess... i'll have to see what the rates are. That said, i'm in a large-ish 1 bedroom apartment with pretty modern construction. No sprawling 100 year old 2 story house here, so i probably save a lot on heating and air conditioning costs.

60 year old house here, so the insulation and windows need to be updated. Will get to that soon.

charlie1978

Yeah I live in an old DC apartment. I am sure most my bill is AC/Heat. I alos purchased one of those kill-o-watt things. It really does show you where the power is coming from. I didn't realize how much my receiver/DVD/and computer used just being on standby all day!

I think DC rates are kind of high also.

Good to know about the memory. Now I just need to try and fit the Tx-SR707 into my cabinet.... That thing is huge!

Serendipity

Don't put it in a cabinet. Onkyos generate a lot of heat.

Polkitup2

charlie1978 wrote: »

Yeah I live in an old DC apartment. I am sure most my bill is AC/Heat. I alos purchased one of those kill-o-watt things. It really does show you where the power is coming from. I didn't realize how much my receiver/DVD/and computer used just being on standby all day!

I think DC rates are kind of high also.

Good to know about the memory. Now I just need to try and fit the Tx-SR707 into my cabinet.... That thing is huge!

I got one of those kill-a-watt meters for Christmas and have measured a number of things around the house. With the exception of heating and cooling, the big ticket items were the computers. My entire office consiting of the computer, printer, LCD display, router, and modem if left running 24/7 costs about $115 per year to run - I only have it on about 4 hours a day. My apartment size refrigerator in the bar which seems like it is always running costs $20 a year to operate. My Musical Fidelity A1 which runs smokin hot 24/7 costs $36 per year to operate. I guess it all adds up.

I just bought a TX-SR707 yesterday to replace my Outlaw 1070

kevhed72

charlie1978 wrote: »

I save about 100 dollars a month now just by unplugging non essential electronics when not in use. If I didn't need the fridge I would probably cut the circuit breaker. I will ask onkyo directly.

Damn....100.00 mo. X 12 mos. = a pretty good used amp and CD player

Now thats some motivation to save electricity....

nguyendot

Holy crap you save 100? I don't even spend that much. I have like 4 laptops, 3 desktops (most of which I have power savings off on) on all the time. This quad core laptop never shuts off, it just sits at the side of the bed when I want to randomly surf. Only time I ever go over 100 a month is like everyone else, with a/c in the summer, and then I hit about 150. 50 year old house with brand new insulation but old crappy windows.

mrbofus

scarf wrote: »

i picked up a kill-a-watt to see just how much power was wasted on things i wasn't using. rather than trying to unplug some things and waiting until my next electric bill, this thing helped me to directly single out the power-hungry appliances

where did you get the kill-a -watt thingy?
I have unplugged by Onkyo and Sharp TV without any issuses

mrbofus

scarf wrote: »

i picked up a kill-a-watt to see just how much power was wasted on things i wasn't using. rather than trying to unplug some things and waiting until my next electric bill, this thing helped me to directly single out the power-hungry appliances

where did you get that killawatt thingy?

Serendipity wrote: »

Don't put it in a cabinet. Onkyos generate a lot of heat.

I was concerned with the heat "issuses" of onkyo when I got mine, however i have it in a cabinet and havent noticed any heat issues. I generally leave the front door cracked and good vents in the back. Ive run it for 6-8hours at a time with very little heat. But I also am not "working" it either.

mrbofus

sorry for the double post!

halo71

You guys are lucky with the $100 or less monthly power bills! I have a 2200 sq. ft house and if I see anything less than $350 a month I am happy.

I have a Sony DD processor that gets so hot I can't touch the top hardly. That thing has to be a waste of power! If heat equals wasted power.

Face

You can pick up the Kill A Watt from Amazon.com.

madmax

The small drains of multiple devices which stay on 24 hours a day is where you really waste money rather than the intermittant use high wattage items. Last year I started unplugging things not in use and the bill shows it, about 30% lower. For me its only maybe $25 per month but even still, thats $300 a year I was just pissing away and getting no enjoyment from. 10 years from now I'll be worth $3K more because of it.
madmax

mrbofus

Face wrote: »

You can pick up the Kill A Watt from Amazon.com.

thanks I'll check it out.
I would like to see the power usages from my stuff.
I have also used a power cord/surge protector and hit the power switch when not in use. It works well as long as you dont have to rest things like clocks and pre sets.

Any recommendations on which one? or are they all pretty much the same?

sk1939

You can also find the Kill-A-Watt, or at least a clone at a Harbor Freight for about the same price.

OP, you must really pay alot for electricity don't you....although I think the $100 savings is annual rather than per month, although you *might* be able to do that, I doubt it unless you live in a mansion, or have one of those giant Christmas light displays.

BGE has kindly raised our rates alot over the past couple years...I think that I pay about $.12/kwh or so, and my last bill was like $140 a month for standard usage (970Kwh or so).

physast

I think I pay .145/kwhr, this of course depends on the time of year. I really have nothing plugged in but my fridge and air condition unit. The power strips are great for keeping things off standby. I think in Europe electronics have to have a switch to actually turn off the equipment and not just put it in standby.

On average I do save about $100 a month, but I was misleading. This is total utility bill. I also conserve water by collecting water from the shower while the water heats up and use this to water plants and flush he toilet.

I just ordered the Onkyo TX-sr707 from 6ave.com for $469! Can't wait to get it.

Willow

halo71 wrote: »

You guys are lucky with the $100 or less monthly power bills! I have a 2200 sq. ft house and if I see anything less than $350 a month I am happy.

I have a Sony DD processor that gets so hot I can't touch the top hardly. That thing has to be a waste of power! If heat equals wasted power.

Ours is 2100SQft and our bills are always less than 100$ summer maybe 120$ with C/A. Our desktop is never turned off the same with our laptop. My Rotel is always on as is my Sonance. Nothing gets unplugged.