# Got a kill-a-watt meter..



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Everything was largely as expected so far except...

The Cable box it uses 25 Watts. Yes we have two. Getting timers. They can be off at night.
Fan for the coal stove. It uses 30 watts. It is what it is.

The big users are the TV (230 watts), Desktop 160 watts. Monthly these are darn near half the bill maybe more. The "TV" power strip peaks out at 360 when the tv, the playstaion, and the cable box are all running. I didn't turn on the sound bar....:stars: That would easily add 100 watts.


I was going to implement a plan for the well and pump. I had wrongly assumed it was a bit of a power hog. I was going to spend a small pile of cash for...

Solar well pump about $1200
solar panel (180 watt) $200
water tank, 500 gal about $500

Or nearly 2 grand after it's all installed. To save what actually only costs about 3 dollars a month. :smack

This stuff is such a pain. The things you think cost money, don't. Things that seem tiny, cost a lot because they just run and run. Next thing is to see what the chest freezers in the unheated garage actually use during cold weather. I suspect they cost almost nothing.

On a side note. All the electronics I've tested, TV, playstation, desktop computer have very tiny power usage when off or on stand-by. In the range of .5 watts or less for the devices. So the "phantom" load issue doesn't seem to be an issue for me.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

Upgrade your TV...230 watts seems high. The newer LED TV's at 32" are less than 30 watts.

And with most solar stuff, the high cost rarely if ever made back when you consider batteries and the cost of solar panels.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

wannabechef said:


> Upgrade your TV...230 watts seems high. The newer LED TV's at 32" are less than 30 watts.
> 
> And with most solar stuff, the high cost rarely if ever made back when you consider batteries and the cost of solar panels.



Yeah, and at the price today. It could have a rather "fast" return. As strange as it seems.

Now to convince the wife I "need" a new 50" flat screen to save money. :grin:


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

stanb999 said:


> Yeah, and at the price today. It could have a rather "fast" return. As strange as it seems.
> 
> Now to convince the wife I "need" a new 50" flat screen to save money. :grin:


"Hey, numbers don't lie, honey":grin:

Thanks for posting the info. There's nothing like getting hard data BEFORE making a decision.:thumb:


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## GregYohn (Jan 24, 2013)

My new Samsung 40" TV uses 24 watts and 6 yr old lcd 32" uses 80 watts.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I thought the new TV's were energy hogs?

What about High Def TV?


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## justin_time (Dec 2, 2012)

stanb999 said:


> Everything was largely as expected so far except...
> 
> The Cable box it uses 25 Watts. Yes we have two. Getting timers. They can be off at night.
> Fan for the coal stove. It uses 30 watts. It is what it is.
> ...


You will find a lot of suprises, I took a power cord and soldered on a light bulb base so I could test light bulbs, Use a laptop for surfing the web, your tv is a killer, when you get a new one, try turning the back light down and see what happens to the wattage. I remember my first killowatt meter......it seems so long ago...such good times... have fun.

Check your fridge!


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

justin_time said:


> You will find a lot of suprises, I took a power cord and soldered on a light bulb base so I could test light bulbs, Use a laptop for surfing the web, your tv is a killer, when you get a new one, try turning the back light down and see what happens to the wattage. I remember my first killowatt meter......it seems so long ago...such good times... have fun.
> 
> Check your fridge!


I will. I have to get a cord for the fridge so I can "see" it plugged in.

In a few months the "big" TV wont matter much. The last little guy likes to be outside all day. just not in this weather. He will also be starting school in fall, no more endless netflix. Then it will be just a few hours a day at most. The DW uses a smaller TV in the kitchen for herself. It may actually pay to replace hers.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

fishhead said:


> I thought the new TV's were energy hogs?
> 
> What about High Def TV?


Depends on what you think is a HOG. MY FIL just got a 55" LED LCD. It uses 80 watts. his Direct TV box uses 30. So the TV isn't bad IMHO.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

fishhead said:


> I thought the new TV's were energy hogs?
> 
> What about High Def TV?


Depends if it uses a lamp or if its LED...they have both.


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

stanb999 said:


> Everything was largely as expected so far except...
> 
> The Cable box it uses 25 Watts. Yes we have two. Getting timers. They can be off at night.


http://www.tripplite.com/components/video-player.cfm?type=media&VID=1ad2f7921e094a27ad33688ae0f6cacb

They have "Green" power strips that will kill the power to your cable box when you turn the tv off.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

I do t know about yours, but when the power went off on my cable or sat it would take 15 minutes for it to download the programming guide. That's 15 minutes of hard work downloading and 15 minutes it's running with nothing playing or anyone able to watch.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

wannabechef said:


> I do t know about yours, but when the power went off on my cable or sat it would take 15 minutes for it to download the programming guide. That's 15 minutes of hard work downloading and 15 minutes it's running with nothing playing or anyone able to watch.


My box doesn't use more power starting than when running. So starting isn't "hard". But it does take a few minutes to get going. Thats why I put in timers. They go off at 10PM and on at 5:45 am. It cuts the power by 1/3 and no one should notice it. :rock:


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

So I put the meter on the fridge. It is winter and the freezer is in an unheated detached garage. It has been about the average winter temp for here. So this should be fairly accurate.


280 watts a day to keep it -10 for food storage. Not too bad.


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## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

Could a person even put the freezer/fridge in an unheated garage on timers? Say maybe shut off during the coldest hours of the night or are they even running then?


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

whodunit said:


> Could a person even put the freezer/fridge in an unheated garage on timers? Say maybe shut off during the coldest hours of the night or are they even running then?


Maybe, but I'm not sure it wouldn't just run extra to cool off. Because it "warmed".

It would take a long term experiment to see if it would make enough difference to even pay for the timer. For 10 bucks you'd have to save a bunch.


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