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[les-70]

I am sure that I am not the first raise this but I really do wonder how BT gets away with encouraging a large waste of power by suggesting modems are left switched on?  A modem is much worse than most appliances on standby yet we are encouraged to switch off rather than standby other devices and yet leave modems on.   There must be, or soon will be nearly as many modems as TV's

Having seen the effects of just limited cross talk on my FTTC line I can see why BT might want things left on.  The attainable speed of some FTTC lines would most likely vary by factors of two or more over 24 hours if things were switched off when not in use.   This might make good stable line speed management harder to achieve. However it is surely not impossible to manage such speeds with profiles and if done well lines would end up with similar syncs to now but with higher and better snrm due to more devices usually being powered down at any one time.

I am surprised the “green” lobby does not bash BT over this.

I am continuing my long standing policy of switching off what is not expected to needed in coming few hours but wonder whether the DLM will react badly.  Do others do this or are they frightened of possible consequences?

[Ronski]

I would not want mine switched off, or the router, or the switch, or the server 

I could just imagine the complaints I would get from the rest of the family.

That said I am power conscious, and for a five bed house we pay  £107 a month for gas and electric.

[JGO]

Les-70, I agree with you in principle, but you are fighting the great "We can't do that, we've never done it before !"
 
About 1960 the GPO got round to fitting proper closed magnetic circuit microphone transformers, to their 'phones in place of "induction coils", which sounds like something left over from the telegraph. The result was a considerable improvement in speech quality and reduction in noise.
Microphone transformers had been available since about 1900 !

In fairness a large system can't be changed overnight, compatibility, spares, training of maintenance people etc takes time, but 60 years ?

Switching off the modem results in a drop in speed (at least on ADSL) since the DLM can't get a response from the modem and so assumes the line is faulty.  If a modem could be designed to call up the exchange at switch on, and the exchange then check the line and set the speed, like a computer interrupt  or a radio net I don't know, I suspect it could (but the modem would have to wait !) but if it takes a telcom system 60 years to catch up  don't hold your breath !

 "I am surprised the “green” lobby does not bash BT over this."

In fact the power isn't wasted if it reduces the demand on heating by a similar amount. The effect on modem life may be significant, but there is a counter argument to that, reduction of switch-on surges ( burns out the valves you see !)
 

[renluop]

I think convenience comes in to many folks' opinions about ideas for power saving in general. One thing would be does the apparatus keep its settings.

As to modems, what is their average consumption; does it vary if actual activity is present or idle?

[4candles]

Variation with activity is minimal in my experience.

I've tested several routers from various manufacturers, and never seen one outside the range 8 to 11 watts drawn from the mains.

[kitz]

adsl modem/routers are designed to be always on.   Theres always been a debate over this - well for at least the past >10yrs since routers tooks the place of USB modems.

Many years ago I saw someone do detailed breakdowns of how much it cost to leave the router on per year and it wasnt much. I really cant recall now but at the time it was something like slightly over a quid per month.

Mine is and always has been on since I first got adsl.   These days with so many wireless devices Im sure many households couldnt have it any other way.

[les-70]

  I guess mine is off when I am out for the day and overnight but not more often so I am never really inconvenienced.  At about half the day on average I estimate about 35KWh a year and that  I save about £4-5 a year.   I agree that hardly matters on an individual basis but nationally it all adds up and it is much more than you would save compared with not leaving TV,s and other things in standby.   

[sevenlayermuddle]

A couple of years ago I kitted out my home with LED lightbulbs.   As expected, my electricity bill dropped by about 10%.  Also as expected by anyone without a scientific background (which excludes most of the green lobby), my gas increased by about the same percentage.   And gas costs more.   

The thing is, with very few exceptions, every single kilwatt hour, or kilowatt second, of electricity coming into your home is spent on heating your home, that's basic physics.  If you deprive your home of that heat the CH thermostat will click in sooner, triggering gas consumption.

And whereas electricty can be generated by environment-friendly sources such as nuclear, every time your CH boiler springs to life you are burning a non-renewable resource, and much of the energy escapes straight out of the boiler flu'.

There may be some marginal benefit from switching things off in summer when heating is not needed.  But in the winter months swithing off is largely pointless, you won't save money and you won't save the planet.

[NewtronStar]

I had the exact same thoughts since moving to FTTC with HG612 & HH3 both being power on 24/7 365 days a year, both use say 7 watts * 2 = 14 watts per hour (24 hours = 336 watts) 0.336 Kilowatts.

Lets multiply 336 watts by the average days of the month 28 * 0.336 = 9.408 Kilowatts at my curent rate of 16.5p per unit (1 Kilowatt) 16.5p * 9.408 = £1.55p a month

So lets multiply £1.55p * 12 months (year) = £18.60

HG612 & HH3 yearly running cost of £18.60 and don't even get me started on the cost of a Desktop PC running 24/7 365 days of the year because I don't do it 

[kitz]

Incidentally the new Sky Hub drops into low power mode if not in use and supposedly instantly returns to full power when it detects use again.  I wonder if at some point this could become a common feature for consumer routers.   I dont know how practical it would be for business use though, nor how much electricity 'low power mode' would save.

[Ronski]

I was going to check the power draw of my equipment in my server room, but couldn't think where my meter was.  The server draws about  40w.

[sevenlayermuddle]

According to some words I uttered in another thread (and so it must be true  ), I measured my DG834GT some time ago, it read 7 Watts.   On the face of it, that will be costing me someting around £10 per year.   But it's actually in use at least (say) 16 hours a day, so the maximum I could save would be about £3.

And as stated, during the winter months it costs virtually nothing at all, as it reduces my gas CH by a similar (tiny) amount as my increased electricity.  Let's say the house is heated half the year, my saving comes down to about £1.50 per year. 

I'd be interested to know how much energy is used modulating the actual upstream signal as that energy goes to heating up the BT lines rather than my home, so saves nothing off my gas bill, and may render my calculations a little inaccurate.  My guess is no more than about 10% of the energy escapes in that way, so I'll settle for an estimate of £1.65 saving per year, or about a half pence a day by switching router off overnight.  Needless to say, I don't.

I also have the gigabit switch and a fully loaded (4 HDDs) server that runs 24/7, handling TV recorders and taking backups of other bits of kit (which in turn are awakened by the server every 4am) so I do revisit these sort of calculations quite often.   I always conclude that for the convenience it brings, I can easily justify the cost, although it does get a little warm on some summer days.

[burakkucat]

I had the exact same thoughts since moving to FTTC with HG612 & HH3 both being power on 24/7 365 days a year

Perhaps you should consider leaving the HG612 constantly powered up but powering down the HH3 when Internet access is not required. 

[GigabitEthernet]

Just leave it on.

[NewtronStar]

I had the exact same thoughts since moving to FTTC with HG612 & HH3 both being power on 24/7 365 days a year

Perhaps you should consider leaving the HG612 constantly powered up but powering down the HH3 when Internet access is not required. 

  I just keep them both on 365 days of the year unless a re-sync comes in and then I'll reboot the HH3 (router) at £1.55 per month that works out at £0.055 pence a day or thats 5 pence per day thats a bargain, what can you buy in a shop these days for 5p a plastic bag if your in a plastic bag levy region like me