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Comment by t0mas88 | Hacker News Reader

The author acts as if it's all bullshit, but actual measurements in my house disagree. I have a new (2021) 4k "sky box" from my ISP, a relatively new Android TV (2020), a PS4, a Logitech Harmony hub and a lan switch plugged into one socket. The measurement device shows a total of 35W continuous power usage when they're all in standby.

Programmed a rule in my home automation to turn off that whole socket if it's after 11pm and the lights are off, then back on in the morning. It's around 100 kwh per year, which is more than 30 euros at current energy prices over here.

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It's a good thing if you already have home automation set up. But installing home automation probably costs more than the 30 euros/year you're saving on electricity.

Absolutely, and my home automation setup in total also uses more power than what this trick is saving. But it's there anyway because I want an automated home, and then this is a simple rule to save some otherwise wasted energy that takes only 5 minutes to set up.

I use a ZWave light switch in our bedroom that can trigger "scene" commands on a double/triple tap. A double tap at night fires a scene that tells Home Assistant to shut all the things off (and make sure the doors are locked, garage door is closed, HVAC is set correctly, etc). Double tap up in the morning turns stuff back on.

Have you broken them out individually?

I'd imagine your router is probably the primary contributor to that 35W.

I've done a bit of unscientific plugging and unplugging ;-) The TV box is using 15ish watts so that's a bit part.

My router + fiber termination point are using 18W continuous, but that's not included in this 35, they're somewhere else in the house. The box here is only a TV decoder.

Does standby for the sky box, the lan switch and the hub just mean normal operation?

Yes, with the TV thing set to "off" which really isn't that off.

Hmm. I think I need to do some measurement on my TV setup.

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