Power Consumption

Naim kit is wasteful of energy sat their idling away 24/7. To be honest, running the system at low volume compared to just leaving it on all day (muted) will make little difference to running costs so if it keeps your mutt happy then leave it that way. I very much doubt that adding the 250 has affected your bill that much. It's worth checking what else you have added / been using (or even if your electriciy tariff has changed) in the house which may be using more electricity. It's worth getting yourself an energy monitor which can be useful for checking how much your house uses at base load (everything off apart from things like Fridges, Heating system, network etc) and then you can see what other items draw excessive power and work out where the energy (and money) is going. 

James

You might be right James,so if there is not much difference I will continue the way I have been,thanks.Supposedly our local government is supposed to reduce our hydro rates by 25%,but I won't hold my breath.Believe it or not,he does not chew any furniture when I leave the Naim playing while I am not home.

You could always give the dog away. Think of the saving in food and vet's bills. 

He is also a guard dog against robbers,so he is staying put

Your dog obviously has good taste - keep him! 

The way I see it, leaving my gear switched on puts a little bit of heat into the house, and the expense should be partly offset by a small reduction in heating costs. Obviously, if you run aircon in summer, the opposite applies, but in a mild, humid Welsh climate, that's not an issue for me. 

Is your carbon footprint otherwise minimised?

C.

Its not a 250,  but if it helps to better understand what power is used to play quiet'ish background radio levels (45-65dB) compared to idle (no sound):   My SuperNait power section (the pre-section is cuddly toy PSU powered)    On Idle it consumes 12VA (Watts)   Playing quiet is 48VA.     So with my SuperNait - 80W into 8ohms & similar to 250 - it takes 36VA (Watts) to play background music.

The dollar amount is up to you to work out based on your tariff.  

So it sounds like low volume consumes 4 times the power as no volume according to Mike-B,now to try and figure out how much that is in real money spent.As far as i know my carbon footprint is minimized,i use led light bulbs,and try not to leave lights etc.on.I think it is more a case of outrageous hydro rates where i live.I am going to run my xd 600's for a month or two,which do not use the 250 dr (they are active),just to see if the bill goes down.

You're right. The hydro rates are outrageous. The guy that leaves his hi-fi playing for the dog is perfectly sane. And somehow in between, you've minimized your carbon footprint and managed to stave off would-be robbers.

Got to love those LED bulbs. Does anybody actually buy incandescents anymore?

We bought seven of the new-fangled filament led bulbs in August last year for £10 each. They look lovely - just like an old fashioned bulb. One has just conked out and, inevitably, they are not made any more. The shop we got it from is very kindly sending a free replacement of the nearest equivalent but of course it won't match. Grr. 

What about those times when some head banging and run at full volume is in order. How do I offset my carbon footprint ?

Yes we're slowly doing that too as bulbs fail. My only problem has been our kitchen spots - which were 50W bulbs. The LED replacements are great but two out of the 4 have failed after about 6 months. The company we bought them from offers a 2 year warranty and replaces them with no issues. Hopefully just a bad batch. 

TOBYJUG posted:

What about those times when some head banging and run at full volume is in order. How do I offset my carbon footprint ?

Walk everywhere for a week ?

joerand posted:

Got to love those LED bulbs. Does anybody actually buy incandescents anymore?

Trying to find LED bulbs that are bright enough and physically fit in all locations is not easy.

Also, with many the "warm white" is a very poor match for the tungsten lighting it is intended to imitate (much as CFLs were in the early years). I bought one in the form of a 'cob' disk to modify a particular lamp I want to keep but wanted to replace its 150w halogen bulb, and the 20w  warm white is good on brightness, but its yellow colour is very odd! I'll have to change it for the 4500-5000k 'natural white' instead - though the light is rather on the 'cool' side it is better than bathing things in eerie yellowness!

james n posted:

It's worth getting yourself an energy monitor which can be useful for checking how much your house uses at base load (everything off apart from things like Fridges, Heating system, network etc) and then you can see what other items draw excessive power and work out where the energy (and money) is going. 

+1 

In a previous, rented flat, the energy supplier provided an energy monitor, which allowed us to discover that the Panasonic microwave consumed a whopping 50W in standby-mode. Criminal!

Microwaves are horrible indeed.

What annoys me more is that I have a vibrating lead in my house to the whirlpool (horrible too, from electricity perspective).

joerand posted:

Got to love those LED bulbs. Does anybody actually buy incandescents anymore?

Almost every bulb in my house is LED,  all that remains is dimmable CFL downlighters in the kitchen that is a major job to convert & some dimmable G9 halogen's that I will replace en masse with LED one of these days.  

And for those having difficulty matching LED brightness with the replaced lamps;  forget watt ratings, watts are energy (heat).   The frequently stated "watt eq" you find on advertising & lamp boxes can be (is frequently) misleading.  Light is measured in Lumens,   all LED lamps & most all CFL's have their lumen rating on the box & search www has some useful lumen tables for the various other lamp types.  

Thanks for the replies everyone,just to put things in perspective...i live in a small(by Canadian standards) 2 bedroom house,and i live alone with my dog.Last August was when i first got the 250 dr,it is also one of the hottest months here,so my air conditioner was running full time.My hydro bill,which is paired with water,was $406.00 dollars for that month,i did the conversion,it is 248 British pounds.It has since come down because it cools off a bit in September,but my bill is still around $200 dollars a month,which seems high to me.Another BS thing they have here in Canada is smart hydro meters,and they actually charge you more for hydro during"peak hours",which is during the day,fun stuff,i just feel like i am getting raped on the bills,compared to how it was 20 years ago.

No quarter posted:

Thanks for the replies everyone,just to put things in perspective...i live in a small(by Canadian standards) 2 bedroom house,and i live alone with my dog.Last August was when i first got the 250 dr,it is also one of the hottest months here,so my air conditioner was running full time.My hydro bill,which is paired with water,was $406.00 dollars for that month,i did the conversion,it is 248 British pounds.It has since come down because it cools off a bit in September,but my bill is still around $200 dollars a month,which seems high to me.Another BS thing they have here in Canada is smart hydro meters,and they actually charge you more for hydro during"peak hours",which is during the day,fun stuff,i just feel like i am getting raped on the bills,compared to how it was 20 years ago.

You mentioned buying a radio to entertain the dog (instead of having your Naim running). How much have you penciled in for this radio? 20, 50, 100 dollars? How many years of electricity for your Naim would this be? So buying a radio for the dog might be false economy. Apart from depriving your dog of good sound...   Also, as discussed in the  Forum in extenso, Naim recommends running the gear 24/7.

No quarter posted:

Thanks for the replies everyone,just to put things in perspective...i live in a small(by Canadian standards) 2 bedroom house,and i live alone with my dog.Last August was when i first got the 250 dr,it is also one of the hottest months here,so my air conditioner was running full time.My hydro bill,which is paired with water,was $406.00 dollars for that month,i did the conversion,it is 248 British pounds.It has since come down because it cools off a bit in September,but my bill is still around $200 dollars a month,which seems high to me.Another BS thing they have here in Canada is smart hydro meters,and they actually charge you more for hydro during"peak hours",which is during the day,fun stuff,i just feel like i am getting raped on the bills,compared to how it was 20 years ago.

NQ, that seems pretty high. As a comparison, I also have a 2 bedroom house in Ontario and pay $60 month on average for Hydro (add another $10-15 for water.) Yes, compared to 20 years it has gone up x5. I would hazard that it is probably your AC consumption that is the biggest factor...

N.B. If you're in Ontario, Wynne is going to give us a 25% discount this summer

No quarter posted:

Can anyone tell me how much power a Nap 250 dr consumes if you leave it playing 24/7 as compared to just having it powered on but muted,with no sound coming from the speakers.I usually have my system running around the clock,I leave it on low volume when I go to work,just because I have a dog in the house,and I don't want him getting all excited at every little noise.I am looking for a dollar amount,it just seems like my hydro bill has gone sky high since adding the 250,and now I am worried what kind of bill I will be getting when/if I add a 555dr to my N272.I may have to invest in a small clock radio to play for him,if this gets much worse...I live in Canada by the way.

So you're saying that you're contributing to global warming? You filthy American! I mean Canadian!

No quarter posted:

So it sounds like low volume consumes 4 times the power as no volume according to Mike-B,now to try and figure out how much that is in real money spent.As far as i know my carbon footprint is minimized,i use led light bulbs,and try not to leave lights etc.on.I think it is more a case of outrageous hydro rates where i live.I am going to run my xd 600's for a month or two,which do not use the 250 dr (they are active),just to see if the bill goes down.

Carbon footprint? Cow farts have a larger CF than we do. 

spurrier sucks posted:

No quarter posted:

So it sounds like low volume consumes 4 times the power as no volume according to Mike-B,now to try and figure out how much that is in real money spent.As far as i know my carbon footprint is minimized,i use led light bulbs,and try not to leave lights etc.on.I think it is more a case of outrageous hydro rates where i live.I am going to run my xd 600's for a month or two,which do not use the 250 dr (they are active),just to see if the bill goes down.

Carbon footprint? Cow farts have a larger CF than we do. 

Sounds like someone has had a few pops��My bill (hydro) does seem a bit high compared to Timster.

. Nope just poking fun at the PC crowd.