How much power does your house use in standby. - Page 3

skyking · 01-22-14, 09:28 AM

I am stuck with electric heat here. It gives me a different perspective when thinking about phantom loads. We heat in 8 or more months out of the year so any losses simply contribute to heat in the house.
We have plans to do geothermal heat pumps, and that will change my attitude. It is far more efficient than the simple resistance strips in my furnace.

virginiajim · 01-22-14, 11:09 AM

We get down to just under 200W, but average about 400W at the lowest usage levels (night lights, wall warts, etc.) We installed the Efergy system in November which has an online graph that shows KW usage. System cost just under $200 and was kind of a big purchase just to monitor power use; however, it lets us see if we have power from anywhere we can access the internet and that's useful if we have to leave the house and need to know if the heat is on and refrigerators are working. Also, we have a whole-house auto generator (15KW) and want to know peak demands from the heat pump, well, and refrigerator motors.

NiHaoMike · 01-22-14, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyking

I am stuck with electric heat here. It gives me a different perspective when thinking about phantom loads. We heat in 8 or more months out of the year so any losses simply contribute to heat in the house.
We have plans to do geothermal heat pumps, and that will change my attitude. It is far more efficient than the simple resistance strips in my furnace.

While all resistance heaters are the same efficiency at converting electricity to heat, they are not the same "efficiency" at effectively putting the heat to use.

For a start, a reflector incandescent or halogen bulb uses on the order of 100W but feels very warm directly in the beam. Compare that to a typical 1500W space heater. Also look into electric blankets for nighttime use.

Another easy hack is to take a window A/C and turn it around. That works well if it's well above freezing. Otherwise, you could just have the unit in the room sitting on a chair, with the hot side facing you. The net heat put into the room is the same as for a resistance heater of the same power use, but if only one part of a room needs to be heated, it would feel warmer since it's essentially "stuffing" the heat into that part of the room.

There's also the idea of building up Bitcoin (or some alternative) mining boxes that essentially "subsidize" the cost of electricity. In some cases, it can beat a heat pump or even return a profit, so look into it if you're OK with "experimental" technology. There's also Folding@Home, which isn't any cheaper than resistance heating but does give you "points" showing that you donated to scientific research.

Quest · 01-24-14, 09:57 PM

my lowest idling (with 1 regular fridge and 1 chest freezer in garage, running Full-pwr) power consumption works out to about 8.3kW per day (24hr period)....my average during winter months is around 15~17kW per day (includes cooking meals using our electrical range).

Of all the things I have in the house, we have CRT tvs on standby (3x), 50" LCD, 1xPC running either on sleep mode (8W/hr avg) or sometimes my absent-minded wifey would let it run (screen went to sleep of course), etc. some other stuff @ idling also....

Not ideal I know...but I'm gradually working my way through to cut standby power consumption...(but not the 2 fridges).

Q.

MN Renovator · 01-24-14, 10:45 PM

I just installed my TED today and standby power is 20 watts. Right now with my bedroom light on and my laptop running I'm at 60 watts. Since the TED displays 10 watt increments it is possible that the standby load is closer to 10 watts. Even if it is 20 watts as a worst case, that would be 14.9kwh in a 31 day month. That actually seems high to me compared to what I found when checking everything with a Kill-a-watt. I'm not sure how much energy the smoke detectors, GFCIs, or oven clock uses in standby. Also just realized I forgot to check my DSL modem/wifi router. I figured I was roughly 10 watts though.
On the other hand, there could be a pile of crap in my the other room from my tenant burning energy in standby that I haven't measured that could make 20 watts accurate. My tenant is terrible at energy conservation, the typical thought process exists in that one where they think that the utility bills "are what they are, can't control them" crap. While this tenant lived here my electric bills have usually been 100-200kwh higher than the previous year every month they have been living here in the non-AC months. Makes my 75kwh energy usage in October look like a futile attempt when that grew to 379kwh with someone else here. ..when fixed loads like a refrigerator don't increase, its hard to think that one person can burn 300kwh on their own in consumer electronics.

Quest · 01-26-14, 12:10 PM

At last: my 32" CRT wega tv partially died over this weekend: audio board kicked the dust due to some kind of failures (would have audio for approx. 2~3secs before it completely cut off...)

I know I can fix it but given it's weight (over 100lbs, take 2 guys to lift it off the TV stand), and it's getting rather painful to watch (480p only, and my PVR is already on at least 720p or 1080p typical, so using built-in step down to get the signals through)...I think it's about time to bid adieu to it and save some electricity...

Oh well, still have 2 more CRTs to get rid of *my 32" and 27" wegas are freebies, and kid's room 27" lower end Sony CRT was a give-away also..

Q.

pinballlooking · 02-04-14, 11:15 PM

Ok we are down to 350 watts but I think we can do better but it will have to wait until it gets warmer.

Daox · 02-05-14, 08:53 AM

Good job. That is 3.6 kWh your solar doesn't have to support every day! What did you do to reduce your usage?

pinballlooking · 02-05-14, 09:44 AM

A printer we only use to print on Blu-Ray’s labels we now unplug and only plug it in when we use it.

My Envoy the reports the solar power to the Enphase it used two power line Ethernet devices to talk to the web. I changed if over to one USB adapter and it now talks Wi-Fi but more importantly at a fraction of the power use. It is powered from the USB cable now.

My pinball machines are now on a green power strip that has a remote control. It has a built in relay with a remote. Turn on the remote it powers on the machines turn It off it completely remover power to the pinball machines.

Fax copier gets unplugged when not in use.

A couple old alarm clocks are now not used.

I will be looking for more stuff as the weather warms up.

Daox · 02-05-14, 10:00 AM

Great stuff, keep us updated and always share your ideas so others can try them too!

02-05-14, 08:53 AM	#28
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Good job. That is 3.6 kWh your solar doesn't have to support every day! What did you do to reduce your usage? __________________ Current project - 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. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

02-05-14, 09:44 AM	#29
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	A printer we only use to print on Blu-Ray’s labels we now unplug and only plug it in when we use it. My Envoy the reports the solar power to the Enphase it used two power line Ethernet devices to talk to the web. I changed if over to one USB adapter and it now talks Wi-Fi but more importantly at a fraction of the power use. It is powered from the USB cable now. My pinball machines are now on a green power strip that has a remote control. It has a built in relay with a remote. Turn on the remote it powers on the machines turn It off it completely remover power to the pinball machines. Fax copier gets unplugged when not in use. A couple old alarm clocks are now not used. I will be looking for more stuff as the weather warms up. Last edited by pinballlooking; 02-05-14 at 09:58 AM..

02-05-14, 10:00 AM	#30
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Great stuff, keep us updated and always share your ideas so others can try them too! __________________ Current project - 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. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-22-14, 09:28 AM	#21
skyking Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2011 Location: Western Washington Posts: 91 Thanks: 47 Thanked 20 Times in 13 Posts	I am stuck with electric heat here. It gives me a different perspective when thinking about phantom loads. We heat in 8 or more months out of the year so any losses simply contribute to heat in the house. We have plans to do geothermal heat pumps, and that will change my attitude. It is far more efficient than the simple resistance strips in my furnace.

01-22-14, 11:09 AM	#22
virginiajim Lurking Renovator Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 3 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	We get down to just under 200W, but average about 400W at the lowest usage levels (night lights, wall warts, etc.) We installed the Efergy system in November which has an online graph that shows KW usage. System cost just under $200 and was kind of a big purchase just to monitor power use; however, it lets us see if we have power from anywhere we can access the internet and that's useful if we have to leave the house and need to know if the heat is on and refrigerators are working. Also, we have a whole-house auto generator (15KW) and want to know peak demands from the heat pump, well, and refrigerator motors.

01-24-14, 09:57 PM	#24
Quest Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 109 Thanks: 13 Thanked 13 Times in 11 Posts	my lowest idling (with 1 regular fridge and 1 chest freezer in garage, running Full-pwr) power consumption works out to about 8.3kW per day (24hr period)....my average during winter months is around 15~17kW per day (includes cooking meals using our electrical range). Of all the things I have in the house, we have CRT tvs on standby (3x), 50" LCD, 1xPC running either on sleep mode (8W/hr avg) or sometimes my absent-minded wifey would let it run (screen went to sleep of course), etc. some other stuff @ idling also.... Not ideal I know...but I'm gradually working my way through to cut standby power consumption...(but not the 2 fridges). Q.

01-24-14, 10:45 PM	#25
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	I just installed my TED today and standby power is 20 watts. Right now with my bedroom light on and my laptop running I'm at 60 watts. Since the TED displays 10 watt increments it is possible that the standby load is closer to 10 watts. Even if it is 20 watts as a worst case, that would be 14.9kwh in a 31 day month. That actually seems high to me compared to what I found when checking everything with a Kill-a-watt. I'm not sure how much energy the smoke detectors, GFCIs, or oven clock uses in standby. Also just realized I forgot to check my DSL modem/wifi router. I figured I was roughly 10 watts though. On the other hand, there could be a pile of crap in my the other room from my tenant burning energy in standby that I haven't measured that could make 20 watts accurate. My tenant is terrible at energy conservation, the typical thought process exists in that one where they think that the utility bills "are what they are, can't control them" crap. While this tenant lived here my electric bills have usually been 100-200kwh higher than the previous year every month they have been living here in the non-AC months. Makes my 75kwh energy usage in October look like a futile attempt when that grew to 379kwh with someone else here. ..when fixed loads like a refrigerator don't increase, its hard to think that one person can burn 300kwh on their own in consumer electronics.

01-26-14, 12:10 PM	#26
Quest Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 109 Thanks: 13 Thanked 13 Times in 11 Posts	At last: my 32" CRT wega tv partially died over this weekend: audio board kicked the dust due to some kind of failures (would have audio for approx. 2~3secs before it completely cut off...) I know I can fix it but given it's weight (over 100lbs, take 2 guys to lift it off the TV stand), and it's getting rather painful to watch (480p only, and my PVR is already on at least 720p or 1080p typical, so using built-in step down to get the signals through)...I think it's about time to bid adieu to it and save some electricity... Oh well, still have 2 more CRTs to get rid of *my 32" and 27" wegas are freebies, and kid's room 27" lower end Sony CRT was a give-away also.. Q.

02-04-14, 11:15 PM	#27
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Ok we are down to 350 watts but I think we can do better but it will have to wait until it gets warmer.