{"id":512510,"date":"2022-11-19T15:00:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/"},"modified":"2022-11-19T15:00:49","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T12:00:49","slug":"dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/","title":{"rendered":"#Don\u2019t Trust Manufacturer\u2019s Device Power Use Estimates"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297de620b04\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297de620b04\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/#%E2%80%9CDont_Trust_Manufacturers_Device_Power_Use_Estimates%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Don\u2019t Trust Manufacturer\u2019s Device Power Use Estimates&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/#Manufacturer_Estimates_Are_Very_Conservative\" >Manufacturer Estimates Are Very Conservative<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/#Heres_How_and_Why_to_Measure_It_Yourself\" >Here\u2019s How (and Why) to Measure It Yourself<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CDont_Trust_Manufacturers_Device_Power_Use_Estimates%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Don\u2019t Trust Manufacturer\u2019s Device Power Use Estimates&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-847133 size-full\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/PowerEstimates1.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A modern living room with a TV, speakers, and multiple media devices.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/modern-apartment-home-theater-637103029\" data-credittext=\"Marko Subotin\/Shutterstock.com\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/modern-apartment-home-theater-637103029\">Marko Subotin\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Poke around in the technical specs for just about any product on the market, especially devices like TVs and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> equipment, and you\u2019ll find official stats about their power usage. In our experience, you shouldn\u2019t trust them and should test their consumption yourself. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Manufacturer_Estimates_Are_Very_Conservative\"><\/span>Manufacturer Estimates Are Very Conservative<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you look up the estimated power consumption of a TV you\u2019re shopping for, you might find that it has <em>a very<\/em> conservative power use estimate, with the manufacturer claiming that the TV uses a mere watt or two in standby mode.<\/p>\n<p>Yet when you take it home, hook it up, and measure the actual energy use, it\u2019s much higher. Perhaps as high as 15-20W instead of the suggested 2W.<\/p>\n<p>Phantom loads add up over time, and how much power your TV uses when it\u2019s off can mean the difference between spending a buck on idle power a year or, instead, $20-25. If you keep your TV for a decade before replacing it, that\u2019s $200 down the drain instead of $10!<\/p>\n<p>So why the discrepancy between why the manufacturer says the device will use and what it actually uses under real-world conditions in your home? The problem is that the manufacturer <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly estimates the power use when the device is configured in the most power-saving and optimal mode.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of a TV, that means the screen is dimmed, the extra bells and whistles like network connection is turned off, and so on. If you par enough features back on a TV, eventually you might be able to get to the point that it only has a watt or less of standby power because all it\u2019s using the power for is waiting for a signal from the TV remote.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes for many other products like media receivers, printers, and various smart home products. If you toggle every energy-saving option and optimization feature on (at the expense of whatever convenience they provide), you\u2019ll get close to or even arrive at the manufacturer\u2019s estimate.<\/p>\n<p>So the takeaway here is simple. Don\u2019t trust the manufacturer\u2019s estimate. Measure it yourself or poke around the internet to see if any curious folks out there have measured the device under real-world conditions.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Heres_How_and_Why_to_Measure_It_Yourself\"><\/span>Here\u2019s How (and Why) to Measure It Yourself<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the end, you might not care much if a device in your home uses 10W of power in standby mode when it claims it would only use 1W. Or if it uses 30W when it is on instead of the 10W the manufacturer alludes to.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re trying to purchase a UPS unit, for example, to keep those devices on for a certain amount of time, then you need an accurate power reading. Whether a device uses 10W or 30W matters a lot when calculating how long a UPS unit\u2019s battery will last.<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe you\u2019re just debating whether or not you want to put your whole media center on a power s<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> or smart plug that you can flip off to cut down on wasteful standby power. If the real-world phantom load of everything in your media center is, collectively, 60W higher than expected, that will have a big impact on your decision.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, it\u2019s really simple to measure the power use of household items. If it plugs into a standard outlet, you can slap an inexpensive residential watt meter on it and see how much power it uses.<\/p>\n<p>Not only can you use the watt meter to see how much power a given device uses with the current configuration, you can also play around with the device to see if turning off certain features significantly lowers the power consumption.<\/p>\n<p>You might find, for instance, that you can knock 20W off the power consumption of your TV set by turning on the \u201ceco mode\u201d but decide that it\u2019s not really worth saving the money if you have to suffer with a dimmer and washed-out picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/847097\/dont-trust-manufacturers-device-power-use-estimates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Don\u2019t Trust Manufacturer\u2019s Device Power Use Estimates&#8221; Marko Subotin\/Shutterstock.com Poke around in the technical specs for just about any product on the market, especially devices like TVs and media equipment, and you\u2019ll find official stats about their power usage. In our experience, you shouldn\u2019t trust them and should test their consumption yourself. Here\u2019s why. Manufacturer&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":512511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/PowerEstimates1.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-512510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}