Cost of Keeping Components on All the Time?


Hi Everyone,

The original poster in the thread below asked whether he should keep his equipment on at all times. The answer was pretty much "it depends."

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&1228170308&openflup&39&4#39

My question is more about cost: I'm curious if anyone has noticed an increase in their electric bill from keeping things like SS power amps, tube amps, AVRs on all the time. Of course I realize that too would depend on various factors, but I'm just looking for some overall guidance. Are we talking a few bucks a month, or more/less? My components are listed below to give you a sense of the scale I'm talking about. I'd prefer to leave everything on all the time except when I'll be away overnight.

Logitech Squeezebox (for streaming WAVs from my PC)
Cambridge Audio DacMagic
Cary SLP-05 (for stereo pre)
Adcom GFA-555 (for stereo amp)
Arcam AVR-600 (for HT/surround)
Oppo BDP-103 (Blu-ray video and SACD)
Vandersteen 2ceSig IIs (mains; bi-amp/bi-wire capable)
Vandersteen 2W (subwoofer)
Vandersteen VSM-1 (surrounds)
meowist

Showing 1 response by jedinite24

The best thing to do in your case is to get a Kill-A-Watt and measure the consumption of each of your components at various times during playback.

Then you can take your electric bill and figure what the rates you are charged and input it into the Kill-A-Watt. It can give you an idea of what it would cost to run your system 24/7.

you could also do it the hard way and leave your system on 24/7 for a month and compare what you were charged.

I spoke to a guy who had Threshold SA-1 monoblocks and he kept them on 24/7 a long with the rest of his predominantly SS system and it added $25 to his first monthly bill after he got everything set-up.