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Do you guys leave the atv2 on 24/7 ?
- Thread starter Che Castro
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I just got one last weekend... I've been leaving it on (it goes to sleep) but i'm curious to see what others do,
I leave it on. People have established that it draws no more electricity while asleep than a nightlight. There's really no reason to turn it off.
I leave it on and have it set never to sleep.
My kids would wonder where the power button is if it was asleep...
My kids would wonder where the power button is if it was asleep...
I'm not specifically turning it off or putting it to sleep, but I cut the power supply to the entire entertainment-corner when I'm not using it.
I don't like having too much stuff running when I'm not using it, and want stuff running even less when I'm not home.
I don't like having too much stuff running when I'm not using it, and want stuff running even less when I'm not home.
+1
It feels like such a waist to leave things on when you're not using them. All I hear is the sound of money being sucked out the window. Not to mention, better for the environment.
According to Apple, current draw of the 
TV 2 when sleeping is 0.76w; while streaming HD it's 2.08w. If you watch it for 3 hours a day and let it sleep the rest of the time, that averages out to 22.2w/day x 365days ÷ 1000 = 8.103kWh per year. Where I live, average energy cost is 15.01 cents/kWh, so my ATV costs me a whopping $1.22 per year to operate. I'm not losing any sleep over that.
TV 2 when sleeping is 0.76w; while streaming HD it's 2.08w. If you watch it for 3 hours a day and let it sleep the rest of the time, that averages out to 22.2w/day x 365days ÷ 1000 = 8.103kWh per year. Where I live, average energy cost is 15.01 cents/kWh, so my ATV costs me a whopping $1.22 per year to operate. I'm not losing any sleep over that.
According to Apple, current draw of the
Exactly. Most light bulbs are 60 watts. This device only uses about 2 watts while streaming HD. Computers literally typically use 100 times more power than the Apple TV.
This is similar to my setup. All my devices are connected to a activity-sensing power bar. When I turn on the TV, my other devices (ATV2, dvd, wii) will start drawing a current. When I turn the TV off, all these devices are cutoff, and get nothing.
Only my digital box/PVR is separate, since I want it to be able to run when the TV isn't on.
You can find them at Amazon.com
I'm all for saving energy but I honestly don't think there's a significant savings here unless you have a ton of electronics. Plus, you have to give up the advantages of having that small amount of power constantly on and maintaining certain things. All the powered-off devices have to go through a full-reboot time and they will forget any settings that get put into that kind of memory. With the sensing strip, the TV won't turn completely off because it tells the strip what to turn off/on when it goes off/on. You won't want to turn the dvr off because then it won't record when you're not home. If you have a computer running a media server you really don't want to keep turning it off suddenly. The ATV is almost nothing. So what's really left to turn completely off?
Here's an article that gives the standby power consumption of popular game consoles:
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-4.htm
An XBox 360 and PS3 is about 2-2.5 Watts in standby which the article claims is less than 20 cents per month. The Wii is 10 watts but if you turn off the Connect24 feature it will go down to 1.3W.
Modern LCD tvs draw about a 1 watt in standby mode. Energy Star appliances are required to have low standby draws.
I applaud any kind of green living but I think more savings can be had elsewhere and that's where the efforts should be spent.
They go by a variety of names, but you can search for "smart strip" and find tonnes of them. As someone else mentioned, Amazon carries them. Here's a small selection:
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Smart-F7C007q-Energy-Saving/dp/B003P2UMQ2
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-LCG5-Auto-Switching-Technology/dp/B000L9635G/
Not pictured here is one with a timer. I love this kind, and use it for my wireless network. Since I don't need my cable router, wireless router, NAS, or TM backup drive when I'm asleep or at work, so I have them all on a energy smart power bar that shuts these systems down when I'm out of the house. That's 8hrs at work + 6hr when I'm asleep = 14hrs of NOT having these devices sucking power when I don't need them.
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