The following is a cut-paste from this
thread about whole house sensors:
FilterGuy said:
One thing it did was identified 165W of Always on.... and that added up to something like 42% of my total usage. I was able to reduce that to around 125W and am working on reducing it more.
svetz said:
If you could post what it was and what you did in
Minimizing Consumption it would be gold for the rest us.
Or perhaps start a new thread more specific for Watt-Huning, even learning techniques people use would be useful.
It was a lot of little things.....
* I unplugged a bunch of USB chargers that I plugged in over the years but never use.
* I found an Ethernet switch that only had one device hooked to it.... I just hooked the device directly to the main and unplugged the switch
* I had a WiFi router that I had installed as a VPN so I could VPN in from outside the country..... I unplugged it and will only plug it in when I am traveling.
* It turns out my Comcast Ethernet Modem was an older, less efficient model. Comcast sent me a new one that runs faster *and* uses lower power (and did not charge me!!)
* The big change was with my two entertainment centers.... in particular the Comcast DVR boxes.
- The comcast DVR boxes are power hogs. They are full-on Linux computers running 24-7. I did a bit of research and found out that the newer 4K DVR is a bit more efficient so I had comcast send me the new one even though I don't have a 4K TV. (They did not charge me for it either)
- The new DVR is not as bad as the old one, but it is still a hog. I wanted to set it up to turn on when I turn the TV on, but it takes about 5 minutes to boot up so that was not really an option. I only watch TV in the evening so I put the DVR on a smart plug that has a timer function that turns it on in the late afternoon and off late at night. That way it is ready when I need it but not sucking power 24-7.
Since I had the switched plug, I put my whole entertainment center on it. That way the TV, DVD, Stereo, Nvidia Shield, Harmony Remote, etc all turn off and stop sucking power. (The Nvidia shield is another hog)
Next step: I have a power plug that can take a low voltage signal to turn on or off the plug. I am going to plug my printer and monitor into it and then drive the signal with the USB from my computer. That way the monitor and printer is only turned on when the PC is on.
There are things I could unplug when not in use, but it starts to be a convenience trade-off that I am not willing to make because with my solar and net-metering plan I am only paying the ~$10 minimum the utility requires. Additional power reduction does not really save me $$.
The whole reason I am doing this is that next year they will be changing the net-metering plan and I will be paying a lot more. I am thinking of adding batteries and doing peak shaving, but the first step is to reduce usage.
As an aside: When researching the DVR power hogs I found a couple articles that said the ISVs, Cable companies and Satellite companies don't really try to reduce the power of the equipment because there is no demand to. If you consider the number of DVRs and Modems out there, you realize that there is a huge waste of energy. I am not a fan of government sticking their nose into private business, but this is an area where some carefully crafted incentives might be a good idea.