How is your power bill?

The cap and trade program is projected to cost the American family an additional $3100 per year on top of what they already pay for utilities. Even some Democrats are backing away from that. We should not be penalized for using the only sources of energy made available to us. Perhaps my Krells will soon be a luxury that I cannot afford to enjoy. They will become a monument to tax and spend policies.

My equipment is in Mexico where the electrical utilities are a graduated cost. That is to say, use very little power and your rate is very low (likewise the bill), use more electricity and the excess is billed at a higher rate and so on. There are three levels of rates. We had always fallen in the lowest category (about $10 per month) until I brought in the three Krells and Maggie 20.1s. Yikes, overnight we landed in the highest category of rate charges and the bill was $70. I have taken the following steps:

1. Use the center channel and sub amp very infrequently

2. Quit using the system altogether for movies

3. Turn the amps off - no more standby

These are measures that we will all be considering if the cap and trade policies are put in place!

Out of sheer necessity, I used to be archi-conservative (please note lower case in 'c' of conservative) in the use of my system. . . my Rowland 7Ms and the ARC Ref 3 were all gas guzzlers. . . my wife noticed with horror, whenever my stereo was active more than a few hours per week, that our power bill quickly grew into undesirable regions. . . One year ago my Ref 3 has been switched to a JRDG capri, which draws only 6W, and the 7Ms have been replaced by a class D JRDG 312 which runs as cool as a cuke. My stereo is now on 24/7 making music sounding better than ever. . . and my wife has not made a peep about power bills ever since.

Thank you for this thread. My power bill averages $30.00 a month. I occasionally consider adding tube electronics, mostly because I like to fiddle around with things. I had never thought about power usage and cost before. I hate paying monthly bills and paying $300 a month for power is shocking and wasteful. Anyway I love the sound of my Naim Nait 5i-2. That Audio Research VSi60 I have been fantasizing about is hereby off the wish-list.

I wonder if any of the rest of us has gone on to purchase a different audio product because of power consumption concerns like guidocorona. My hat is off to him/her. It's a smart choice, all things considered - I think that for most of us, it is like giving up that big luxury car! I struggle with that! Nice going guidocorona.

Thank you Puerto. I did not choose the JRDG 312 merely because of its efficiency. Rather, its sonic signature enchanted me, and its power efficiency convinced me. Similarly with the Capri, I prefer its sound over that of the ARC Ref 3. . . its mere 6W of power draw is welcome icing on the cake. . . In other words, I am not suffering of any audiophilically painful withdrawl symptoms from the musical Heaven of power guzzlers. . . for me going 'green' has been purely a win/win experience. G.

PS. All Guidos I have known are. . . boys. (grins!)