EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Appliances & Gadgets
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-18-14, 08:48 AM   #1
bennelson
Home-Wrecker
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 546
Thanks: 3
Thanked 165 Times in 96 Posts
Default Automatic Garage Door Openers + phantom load

Hi everyone.

I was looking at a thread about automatic garage door openers. Keeping in mind that "if it has a remote, it's always on", I wondered how much power my garage door opener uses while just sitting there - not opening the door and not having a light on.

Fortunately, mine is plugged in to an outlet right next to it, so it was very simple to plug in to a Kill-a-watt meter and check.

Turns out it uses three watts while just sitting there. Not that that's a terrible amount of energy, but it's 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.

It does come out to $3.38 per year on electricity used. The worst part is that my garage generally is not used for cars, but as workshop and storage space - meaning that I don't use the remote. Still, there is no man door, so the automatic garage door is the only way in and out.

Even if I turned off the automatic opener and popped the emergency handle to put it into "manual" mode - there's no handle on the door to get a grip on. *sigh*.

Anyways, I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has tested how much phantom load their garage door opener creates. Have you? How much?

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
bennelson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-14, 01:12 PM   #2
Piwoslaw
Super Moderator
 
Piwoslaw's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 960
Thanks: 188
Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts
Default

I checked the automatic driveway gate opener draws ~30-35W
That's why we flip the circuit breaker on only when one of the cars is not at home.

My grandma has a similar driveway gate opener which does not have its own circuit breaker, and she doesn't drive anymore. But it has to be on 24/7, because she says so
__________________
Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.
Piwoslaw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-11-16, 02:14 PM   #3
Piwoslaw
Super Moderator
 
Piwoslaw's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 960
Thanks: 188
Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts
Default

Our neighbors were having their gate opener motor serviced last week and my Dad-in-law found out from the servicemen that the motors have a heating element on the circuit board to keep the moisture off. This may explain why the motor sucks 32 watts in idle

The wife and I are very happy that we turn the gate's breaker off when all of the cars are at home

__________________
Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.
Piwoslaw is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Tags
garage door, opener, phantom load

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design