Jim Connors' Weblog
Consumer Electronics: Your Utility Company's Best Friend
If you're reading this article, the chances are real good that your home is full of electronic gadgets. Moreover many are permanently plugged into wall sockets. Having recently purchased a P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ power meter, I've been running around getting a feel for how much energy some of these common components use.
For this first table, I wanted to see how much energy was being consumed by audio/visual components that were plugged into the wall, but not powered on. Indeed some of these numbers are eye-opening:
| Device | Watts consumed (powered off) |
| Visio 22" LCD HDTV (circa 2007) | 1.58 |
| Visio 32" LCD HDTV (circa 2009) | 1.18 |
| 25" RCA Tube TV (circa 1990) | 4.17 |
| Marantz AV Surround Reveiver SR7200 | 2.79 |
| Marantz CD Changer CC9100 | 1.43 |
| Marantz DVD Player DV6200 | 3.60 |
| Boston Micro90pv II Subwoofer | 14.53 |
| Microsoft Xbox 360 | 3.64 |
| Nintendo Wii | 2.70 |
| Sony PlayStation 2 | 0.67 |
| Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4250HD set top | 17.27 |
| Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD DVR set top | 20.00 |
The granularity of the P4460 is hundredths of kilowatt-hours, which means that in order to get a decent reading on a low-power device, you've got to leave it attached for a while. No doubt some of these measurements could be more accurate, but I think you get the point. Of note:
- The 4 components that comprise the audio system consume over 22 watts all day, every day 24x7.
- As set top boxes gain more functionality (e.g. DVR), they suck up even more power. At this rate, you'd think the power utility would subsidize the cable companies to get as many of these things installed as possible.
- All told, the devices in the preceding table consume an amount of energy similar to a 75 watt incandescent light bulb being left on all the time.
For the most part, these components are non-critical, and one could argue that some (e.g the stereo) should be connected to a power strip with an on/off button. This should not pose much of an inconvenience. However, it's a completely different story when it comes to the video components. When powered cycled, set top boxes take forever to reach full functionality as they reboot over the cable network. And televisions, if left untethered to electric power for too long, go through this whole channel search sequence when they're powered up. In short, when it comes to video, you're currently stuck with paying the hidden price of "convenience".
For the computer nerd in us, here's a table comprising some of the computer/network-related components that are left on 24x7.
| Device |
Watts Consumed |
|
| Belkin Wireless G Router |
5.09 | |
| Motorola SBV5120 SURFboard Cable Modem |
5.40 | |
| Netgear ProSafe 16 port 10/100 Switch (FS116) |
8.33 | |
|
4.78 | |
| HP Laserjet 4P (circa 1994) |
5.32 | |
| Canon ImageCLASS MF4270 all-in-one laser printer (networked) (circa 2009) |
3.60 | |
| Fit-PC Slim with external USB hard disk (network file server) |
7.50 |
A decade ago, devices like those listed above were virtually non-existent in the home. So what's the cost of being Internet ready anytime, anywhere? About 40 watts all day and all night. Some final points:
- In general, carefully consider keeping around older gadgets. The circa 1990s devices definitely use more energy than their newer, more functional counterparts.
- Notice no computers are included. You know you have more than one, some (present company included) have way more than one. Let's hope you're turning these off or at least putting them to sleep at night!
Posted at 04:30PM Nov 04, 2009 by jtc in Personal | Comments[0]
You Are What You Eat?
So you may ask, what effect does the food we eat have on our blood pressure? My experience, documented below, won't likely hold up to whole lot of scientific scrutiny, but it's good enough lesson for me.
A combination of poor eating habits and genetics lands me in that ever-increasing group of individuals who have high blood pressure. At first I was what you might consider borderline hypertensive. Being thin and active, in conjunction with my doctor, we only monitored my levels to make sure they didn't get worse. Unfortunately they did.
In an attempt at avoiding medication, I started seriously watching my sodium intake. The resulting change in blood pressure was noticeable in pretty short order. See the table below for daily readings for the last two weeks. In general, I try to take my reading at or around 8:00AM if possible.
Having spent my whole life eating pretty much what I please, it's not easy to make this lifestyle change. But with the help of loved ones, things have been going quite well. But then came Mother's day (5/10). A combination of brunch with my parents and dinner with my in-laws put the kabash on any diet plans. I knew this would happen, and was frankly looking forward to the feast. It only took one day for my pressure to skyrocket. Amazing. But man did I enjoy eating the waffles, bacon, crumbcake, bagels, Mimosas (Orange Juice and Champagne) cookies, macaroni, meatballs, turkey, chocoloate cake, Coke, Espresso, wine, Sambuca and Cognac to name a few.
| Date | Time | Blood Pressure |
| 4/29 | 8:01 AM |
124/73 |
| 4/30 | 8:19 AM |
124/73 |
| 5/1 | 8:18 AM |
123/71 |
| 5/2 | 7:48 AM |
119/75 |
| 5/3 | 9:22 AM |
126/74 |
| 5/4 | 7:53 AM |
129/79 |
| 5/5 | 8:20 AM |
119/69 |
| 5/6 | 7:16 AM |
126/75 |
| 5/7 | 6:19 AM |
126/72 |
| 5/8 | 6:56 AM |
125/75 |
| 5/9 | 7:48 AM |
133/71 |
| 5/10 | 9:14 AM |
129/73 |
| 5/11 | 7:56 AM |
159/81 |
Back to the bland diet, that is, until the next feast.
Posted at 11:21AM May 11, 2009 by jtc in Personal | Comments[1]
The Verbal Regret Coefficient
I am convinced that scientists will some day find an explanation for
my continual verbal ineptitude. It will probably be identified as a
sequence in our genome and they'll call it something like The Verbal Regret Coefficient.
We are all born with it, and we can't escape how it influences us
everyday. In advance of its discovery, I propose this definition: The
Verbal Regret Coefficient is that innate ensemble of dispositions which
guarantees that after uttering a number of words, you will regret
having said a certain percentage of them.
My first choice for a name was Regret Coefficient, but incredibly a quick search seems to indicate that the insurance industry already uses that term. If my theory catches on -- and you'll know that when someone dedicates a wikipedia entry -- I don't want to have to deal with copyright and trademark infringement. So Verbal Regret Coefficient it is.
The Verbal Regret Coefficient
or VRC will ultimately be quantified, and like a cholesterol count,
we'll all be assigned a VRC value. Most will fall into an average
range, but there will be outliers. A high VRC manifests itself
behaviorally in many ways: some high VRC'ers are purposely
controversial, outspoken, brash or arrogant. While others simply fail
to think before they speak. In case you're wondering, I am one of
those outliers with a dangerously high VRC. Furthermore, I'm quite
sure I don't fit into the arrogant and controversial group. But it's
not all good news for those with a low VRC. Although low VRC'ers tend
not to say anything regrettable, they tend also not to say anything of
substance either. We call these people politicians.
If the current social trend continues, we'll get away with blaming any verbal faux pas to our VRC. They'll be VRC support groups and celebrity VRC rehabilitation clinics. Or maybe we could avoid all this silliness and just heed the advice of Mark Twain who once said:
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
But that is sooooo hard.
Posted at 11:40AM Feb 16, 2007 by jtc in Personal | Comments[1]