How much does it cost to power our sytem?

[Almaz]

I think with most starting to feel the economic pinch. I was wondering if anyone had done the math in regards to running their system per hour.

What gear, is the cheapest to run, and what is more expensive.

 

 

[wartman]

I would never do the sums on audio gear or wine.

Just go without unimportant things, like vegetables 

 

[Monty]

We listen to the stereo a few to many hours a day and I reckon we accidentally leave it on overnight and/or all day once or twice a week. Last bill our total energy usage was a bit under 5kwh or just over $1 per day. So the stereo is a fraction of small change.

 

Maybe if you had a multichannel/megapower/class A/valve system it might start to be a factor, but I reckon most people could find better ways to save money than turning off their hi-fi.

[andyr]

2 minutes ago, Monty said:

We listen to the stereo a few to many hours a day and I reckon we accidentally leave it on overnight and/or all day once or twice a week. Last bill our total energy usage was a bit under 5kwh or just over $1 per day. So the stereo is a fraction of small change.

 

Maybe if you had a multichannel/megapower/class A/valve system it might start to be a factor, but I reckon most people could find better ways to save money than turning off their hi-fi.

 

Great post, Monty - which I absoloootely agree with!  

 

Better ways to save money:

1. make sure you turn off lights when you go out of a room (although you may find this causes you to replace light bulbs more frequently than you would, otherwise - due to thermal stress   ).
2. and - given you're in cold Canberra (rather than warm Sunshine Coast) ... turn your central heating down a bit and wear a sweater in winter.

 

[muon*]

No idea on cost but my system consumes about 180 watts continuous, so not a lot.

[BioBrian]

On 01/06/2023 at 9:10 PM, Almaz said:

I was wondering if anyone had done the math in regards to running their system per hour.

 

The timing of this question is is amazing. Another human entity has recently accused me of running up the Hydro bill here, every time I play a bit of music.

 

So yesterday, before warming up the system with a couple of full-length Rachmaninov Symphonies in 5.0 surround, I had the idea to read the meter box. Wrote it down, and the time too.

 

'The entity' was out for the arvo, so I thought it was a great opportunity to watch 'Casino Royale', the 2006 Daniel Craig 007 movie, to check out the advancements (or otherwise) of my system-building over the last few years.

 

Previously measured power use when gear is on and warmed up, roughly:

 

Luxman power amp 220 W

Luxman pre amp 40 W

Parasound power amp 150 W

Oppo Blu-Ray player

Cyrus: 2 X-Power power amps and 2 PSX-R power supplies - maybe 90 W?

Holo DAC (on, but not used in this scenario) 50 W

Edit here too: forgot the monitor, which would add a few Watts.

 

Very bruised ears after the movie - completely shocked at what really dynamic speakers and decent amps can do! - and had the presence of mind (she came home again) to re-read the meter box.

 

26 kWhr used. At 24.7c/kWhr, that equals $6.42*, and that includes background stuff like the lights she left on, fridges, electric fence unit, etc.

 

So about $6* [*Edit: should be $0.90 for the system - see my correction post on 3rd of June below]  for a massive entertainment session - I thought that was pretty good val, and she seemed quite OK with it too, which of course makes all the difference.

 

Edited June 3 by BioBrian
Big difference between actual use and meter-box measurement. "Trust measurements? Sure can"... ... ...

[Peterbean]

16 minutes ago, Monty said:

We listen to the stereo a few to many hours a day and I reckon we accidentally leave it on overnight and/or all day once or twice a week. Last bill our total energy usage was a bit under 5kwh or just over $1 per day. So the stereo is a fraction of small change.

 

Maybe if you had a multichannel/megapower/class A/valve system it might start to be a factor, but I reckon most people could find better ways to save money than turning off their hi-fi.

I just got my valve amp going in the last few weeks, it’s on for a few hours most days. I noticed today it’s pretty Warm so maybe it will just be a winter thing, well certainly not a summer thing,. I suppose class a ss is also warm

[Peterbean]

1 minute ago, BioBrian said:

 

The timing of this question is is amazing. Another human entity has recently accused me of running up the Hydro bill here, every time I play a bit of music.

 

So yesterday, before warming up the system with a couple of full-length Rachmaninov Symphonies in 5.0 surround, I had the idea to read the meter box. Wrote it down, and the time too.

 

'The entity' was out for the arvo, so I thought it was a great opportunity to watch 'Casino Royale', the 2006 Daniel Craig 007 movie, to check out the advancements (or otherwise) of my system-building over the last few years.

 

Previously measured power use when gear is on and warmed up, roughly:

 

Luxman power amp 220 W

Luxman pre amp 40 W

Parasound power amp 150 W

Oppo Blu-Ray player

Cyrus: 2 X-Power power amps and 2 PSX-R power supplies - maybe 90 W?

Holo DAC (on, but not used in this scenario) 50 W

 

Very bruised ears after the movie - completely shocked at what really dynamic speakers and decent amps can do! - and had the presence of mind (she came home again) to re-read the meter box.

 

26 kWhr used. At 24.7c/kWhr, that equals $6.42, and that includes background stuff like the lights she left on, fridges, electric fence unit, etc.

 

So about $6  for a massive entertainment session - I thought that was pretty good val, and she seemed quite OK with it too, which of course makes all the difference.

off topic but how do you rate the parasound amp.

live read lots of good stuff about them

[Dingbat]

I think it could be a consideration if you have a higher power consumption system, like Class A or multichannel.

 

I think my Home Theatre setup consumes around 300 to 400W/hour, but that is including the TV. It's not on that often.

 

My HiFi has 4 Naim boxes with separate power supplies. On standby, they take around 25W each. So that's 100W/hour at a minimum. I've kept them on all the time so far, so it's a minimum 2.4 kwH/day. When the system is playing sound, I don't think it consumes much more than this. The boxes all keep quite cool. Only the power amp is likely to consume more. I'm guessing when running it might take 150W, possibly 200W. It's possible that it's consuming 3kwH/day in total on average including when it is playing.

 

Cost is not so much in my mind as the amount of power being consumed. I have solar cells, no battery as yet, but looking to get a battery by next year. Without the battery, I get a hit every night. If I have a battery, then only winter is a real problem. My general objective in the long term is that I want to buy in as least electricity as I can. It's partly to spend less money, but another part is that I want to reduce my carbon footprint.

 

I haven't done it as yet - been a bit lazy - but I am planning to switch off my Naim boxes overnight when the solar energy input is low, which is basically mostly around Winter.

 

 

 

[BioBrian]

9 minutes ago, Peterbean said:

how do you rate the parasound amp

 

Ha, that reminds me a bit of the Heifetz joke: A man comes up to him and says "Mr Heifetz, your violin sounds amazing!". Heifetz holds it up to his ear and says, "Really? I can't hear anything". Meaning, it might depend on the rest of your system, but they are very universal.

 

I really do like the quality of music they play (A21, A52+, A21+). If you can find one without a humming transformer, and that doesn't hum through the speakers, you're on a winner. I've had bitter experience with one of each, but this one's great. The power use when switched on tells me there's a good amount of Class A, which probably has a lot to do with it. I'd be suss on an amp without a reasonable power drain for that reason.

[Cloth Ears]

11 hours ago, andyr said:

 

Great post, Monty - which I absoloootely agree with!  

 

Better ways to save money:

1. make sure you turn off lights when you go out of a room (although you may find this causes you to replace light bulbs more frequently than you would, otherwise - due to thermal stress   ).
2. and - given you're in cold Canberra (rather than warm Sunshine Coast) ... turn your central heating down a bit and wear a sweater in winter.

 

I've found the lights thing to be a bit of a non-entity nowadays. To light the same room as compared to similar spec for the old Philips globes, or halogen is somewhere between a tenth and a quarter of what it used to cost (in energy usage - dollar cost will have gone up anyway). Leaving all the lights on in the house is a bit of an extravagance that isn't required, but forgetting one light is not nearly the same issue that it used to be...

 

However, the little wall-warts that are used to recharge everything (from laptops to phones to portable music devices) are often left on permanently. And they can consume as much as your average lit room!

Edited June 1 by Cloth Ears

[Assisi]

If I relied only on supply to power my system it would cost me at most approximately 18.5 cents per hour peak time and 10.9 cents after 9pm off peak including the daily supply a charge.  As I have solar plus a battery my cost during most of all the hours that I run the system is probably zero unless there is no sun shining.  Zero cost right now as there is sun and the battery is also charging.  There are also the investment expenses in the solar etc that I have not included in the above.

 

I bought a ROON sub about 7 years ago so no expense now.  Tidal and QoBuz probably cost me 6 cents per hour whether I am using them or not.  Neither the power nor the streaming are significant on an hourly basis compared the pleasure outcome.

 

John

Edited June 2 by Assisi
More words

[awayward]

I haven’t done the cost calculation, but usage is 247w 24/7 in standby mode, then 430~500w when in use between 2~8 hours a day, this excludes my server, NAS and switch.

[MattyW]

Honestly, who cares. People bandy about class A like it’s a big deal yet forget that not everyone goes down the higher wattage path. My 15WPC class A power amp draws a continuous 200WPC and the pre is negligible. 2x DDC, a streamer, OCXO clock, USB Reclocks and it would still be drawing less than 300W.

 

15WPC is pretty much unlimited power when you’re driving 103.3db @ 1W/M efficiency speakers. Far more than I can ever use. I’d say I use a fraction of a watt generally speaking…. Not that it really matters. Then there’s the network gear around the house and NAS, 3x always on PC’s. Everything on linear power supplies except 2x PC’s. Even so, thanks to a 13.32kw solar system our power bills remain low.

Life’s not worth living without high quality audio reproduction and power and heat were considerations when I chose the path I have. Brisbane can be hot and humid so it’s critical. I’m past sitting in my boxer shorts sweating my arse off, and I still don’t want to run aircon more than I have to. Class D still doesn’t sound right to me and class AB still doesn’t give the results I want so yeah, high efficiency speakers paired with low wattage solid state class A was the answer giving the sonics I want with a level of power draw and heat I can live with.

Edited June 3 by MattyW

[BioBrian]

If anyone checked my sums the other day, they were too polite to say anything - I went over it again after this mention of heat, and it all looks really wrong.

 

My system in full flight doing 5.0 channels in a movie would use around 600 W. That's 0.6 kW, times 6 hours, which is 3.6 kWhrs, so at 25c/kWhr, that comes to only 90c! (And the sound is better, I save $20 by not driving to the cinema and catching Covid, AND I don't have to listen to people munching popcorn in the next seat, lowering the SNR).

 

In wondering how I clocked up 26 kWhrs, I think I must have had 2 bars of the radiator going, as the outside temperature was only 12.8 degrees max that day. Dur!

 

The heater would use at least 3 times what the system uses, but 3 hours of that is 4.8 kWhrs, so only adds an extra $1.20 to the day.

 

Either my maths is seriously inadequate, or that meter box is playing funny-buggers. Why 26 kWhrs??? Think I need to 'speak with the management'.

[Niktech]

On 1/6/2023 at 7:35 PM, wartman said:

I would never do the sums on audio gear or wine.

Just go without unimportant things, like vegetables 

 

I think this is one of the best statements I’ve read in awhile, LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stereo coffee]

On 01/06/2023 at 11:10 PM, Almaz said:

I think with most starting to feel the economic pinch. I was wondering if anyone had done the math in regards to running their system per hour.

What gear, is the cheapest to run, and what is more expensive.

 

 

A great question !  the best answer IMO is lowest distortion and at the same time cheapest to run, as it finds if sought, real engineering effort to do both successfully.  It also would show a good understanding of where to achieve efficiency and not to waste. 

 

Knowing about levels used in audio and to match to them as closely as you can with amplifier sensitivity, so you are not running equipment that is failing to amplify your source components properly is one such efficiency. It's easily done by looking at input sensitivity and matching as closely as you can to line level standards. The first link here enables you to look up specifications 

https://www.hifiengine.com

 

The second alerts to line level standards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level

Edited June 3 by stereo coffee

[awayward]

38 minutes ago, stereo coffee said:

A great question !  the best answer IMO is lowest distortion and at the same time cheapest to run, as it finds if sought, real engineering effort to do both successfully.  It also would show a good understanding of where to achieve efficiency and not to waste. 

 

Knowing about levels used in audio and to match to them as closely as you can with amplifier sensitivity, so you are not running equipment that is failing to amplify your source components properly is one such efficiency. It's easily done by looking at input sensitivity and matching as closely as you can to line level standards. The first link here enables you to look up specifications 

https://www.hifiengine.com

 

The second alerts to line level standards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level

So how much does it cost to power your system?

Edited June 3 by awayward

[stereo coffee]

21 minutes ago, awayward said:

So how much does it cost to power your system?

Approx 97 NZD cents a day

[BioBrian]

On 01/06/2023 at 10:23 PM, muon* said:

No idea on cost but my system consumes about 180 watts continuous, so not a lot.

 

I've been at this all day and have only got a bit closer to understanding the situation here.

 

But this one looks straightforward, and I hope someone will let me know if this is wrong...

 

180 W would be 0.18 kW, so run for an hour would be 0.18 kWhr

Down this way a kWhr is 25c

So your system would cost 0.18 x 25 (in cents per hour)

This is only 4.5 cents per hour.

 

If that's right, it sounds like you can relax to the music OK?

[stereo coffee]

2 minutes ago, BioBrian said:

 

I've been at this all day and have only got a bit closer to understanding the situation here.

 

But this one looks straightforward, and I hope someone will let me know if this is wrong...

 

180 W would be 0.18 kW, so run for an hour would be 0.18 kWhr

Down this way a kWhr is 25c

So your system would cost 0.18 x 25 (in cents per hour)

This is only 4.5 cents per hour.

 

If that's right, it sounds like you can relax to the music OK?

4.04 cents NZD  per hour here. 

[Niktech]

LOL. One must be doing it really tough 

if you have to resort to calculating the hourly cost of powering your system.

 

Just turn it off- set a reminder each day to turn it on so that it has sufficient time to warm up before playback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BioBrian]

4 minutes ago, stereo coffee said:

4.04 cents NZD  per hour here. 

 

Ah, now we know why Plinius can recommend leaving their monster power amps continuously on.

[stereo coffee]

2 minutes ago, Niktech said:

LOL. One must be doing it really tough 

if you have to resort to calculating the hourly cost of powering your system.

 

Just turn it off- set a reminder each day to turn it on so that it has sufficient time to warm up before playback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah LOL too,  not indicative of either tough or relaxed , where one is asked as to the hourly cost as the OP asks.

 

On 01/06/2023 at 11:10 PM, Almaz said:

I think with most starting to feel the economic pinch. I was wondering if anyone had done the math in regards to running their system per hour.

What gear, is the cheapest to run, and what is more expensive.

 

 

 

[stereo coffee]

7 minutes ago, BioBrian said:

 

Ah, now we know why Plinius can recommend leaving their monster power amps continuously on.

If they do, power must be a lot cheaper 530km to the South