Modem on: Forgotten way of being an energy guzzler?

I'm pretty conservative with resources. I've recycled at home and work for over twenty years. Obviously, drive a plug in Prius. Keep a keen eye on the weather to determine whether to water on a given day. Keep electrical use at home and work to the absolute necessary. Don't have time to run around and cut off routers, chargers, etc. I feel comfortable that I'm concerned and responsible.

 

Or.....buy a super efficient modem once a smart modem maker realizes there is market for ultra efficient devices. Voting with your wallet has always been a much more powerful influence than any volume of words on the matter.

 

My "landline" is voice over IP. If I turn off the "modem" I've lost my phone line.

 

Some internet service providers say not to. I've been debating this myself. I plan to call mine up and ask about this.

 

Most of the items in the house that still use electricity when not in use are on power strips and when no one is using them or no one is home, the strips get shut off. This makes up for some of what the PiP uses to charge.

 

how much energy does it use? i also have a wireless router next to it, they both run 24/7. that was a very poorly written article (surprise) they talk about shutting it down when not using it, but they give costs only for 24/7 usage. i have a ton of things that add up when not in use, but i would have to walk around the house turning stuff on and off all the time. a better bet is to develop devices that 'sleep' when not in use.

 

Use one of these to see what's using watt.
P3 - Kill A Watt

 

Some modems/routers are hogs and some are not unreasonable. Usually, a lot are supplied by the company providing the internet service and they sure as heck want the cheapest one, often the most inefficient ones.

The best place to start is finding out what loads are taking up what percentage of your utility bill. As El Dobro mentioned, get a simple power meter to find out what all plug in loads are taking. If reducing a utility bill matters, this should be a easy purchase to justify. If you use it will either pay for itself or prove that you are doing the best that can be done (unlikely). You might not worry about the modem as much as some power hog that you never suspected was costing you far more than what it was worth.

 

DVRs, TVs, cable boxes, etc. are all on, even when they're off.

 

Some public libraries have them. Call them up, they might let you check a meter out for free.

 

Except for the power LED. They do switch that off.

 

Cable boxes and sat boxes are the worst! Put stuff on a power strip. I have been turning mine off for years with no bad results. That said, with the VoIP, it stays on now, burns about 15 watts.

A kill-a-watt is a great tool for under $20. Plug it in, and it will record KWH use over time so you can see what things really cost to run. Sat and Cable boxes can draw nearly 100% power when off, over 100 watts! 24/7 that is nearly 500 kwh/year, or close to $100 at averge prices...for doing nothing!

Icarus

 

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GIGABYTE - Technology Guide - Ultra Power Efficient

Some vendors 'get it'.

 

i shut my cable box off with the t.v., but they still draw power? how much?

 

The accurate way is to get one of the meters discussed. In the meantime, if it is warm to the touch when it's suppose to be off, it probably is more than 10 Watts. If it is hot, then more than 25 Watts, possibly much more.

 

thank you. they will be difficult to unplug because they are built into the cabinet.

 

My modem consumes 2.5 watts, and the wireless router 4, for a total of 6.5 watts.
If I turned off those devices 6 hours every day I would save ~ 1 kWh a month. The average Texas home consumes about 1000 kWh a month averaged through the year. My home consumes 100 kWh a month.

That would be worth it to me, but the problem is that on any day of the week the internet might be be used at any hour, albeit infrequently. I accept the energy waste for the convenience.

Chuck, if you are keen to cut down energy waste in your home, I'll bet you have have bigger game to hunt than the modem. As others have said, a kill-a-watt or similar device is a must have. You might find my threads posted here on PC related to home energy conservation informative.

Passive Home Cooling | PriusChat
Efficacy of External Shading | PriusChat
Prius effect on Home Electricity Consumption | PriusChat
Electric Stovetop Cooking: Conservation ideas | PriusChat

 

Our old digital cable box draws 18W. Newer ones draw more, maybe 28W. Standby mode often just means "turn off the display". Box with DVR draws even more. As FL alluded to, they just want something that's cheap to them and screw the extra $15-$40 in electricity the consumer's using per year.

Cable box and other A/V on a power strip. (We're not even really watching it right now since it's summer). That's off most of the time. 18W for instant EPG access? No thanks.

Wife's computer on a power strip that's off when I remember to turn it off.
TV + BluRay + crappy cable adapter in bedroom on a power strip and off most of the time.