Saving energy - turning things off at the plug

Surf_Widow

I'm trying to reduce the amount of electricity we use by turing things off at the plug rather than leaving them on standby. Someone I know told me not to do this with the Sky box as it will break - I think because it has to re-set itself everytime it's switched back on. Anyone know how true this is?

Hereward

Whilst it is true that the sky box will reset itself each time the power its turned off, actually when you turn it back on), I don't see how turning it off on the wall will break it; however, I believe that sky’s T&Cs state that you must leave the set-box turned on (or in standby) and connected to the phone line. I'm not sure how they could prove that you've deliberately broken this condition thou.

arkonite_babe

This t&c only applies if you are a sky customer for less than a year. I've been with sky now for over 2 years and after I moved house the engineer told me I didn't need to have my phone line connected any more.

HTH

gromituk

Changes in temperature of electronic components cause them stress which will make them more likely to fail over time. If you leave appliances on standby, then certain components will be warm all the time and so will not suffer the "thermal cycling" which increases the risk of failure.

However, these warm components dissipate heat, which of course wastes energy. How can you possibly know which is the better strategy? I always switch things off; I think the risk of failure from thermal cycling is generally exaggerated.

tim_n

gromituk wrote:

Changes in temperature of electronic components cause them stress which will make them more likely to fail over time. If you leave appliances on standby, then certain components will be warm all the time and so will not suffer the "thermal cycling" which increases the risk of failure.

However, these warm components dissipate heat, which of course wastes energy. How can you possibly know which is the better strategy? I always switch things off; I think the risk of failure from thermal cycling is generally exaggerated.

I concur - however electrical damage done by thermal cycling isn't the only degrading part of circuitry - I believe without a charge running through the boards the actual circuitry starts to degrade over time. TVs left without power for several years may stop working entirely.

Plus of course everything is built cheap and quick so you have to buy another in a years time...

Wig

Surf_Widow wrote:

I'm trying to reduce the amount of electricity we use by turing things off at the plug rather than leaving them on standby. Someone I know told me not to do this with the Sky box as it will break - I think because it has to re-set itself everytime it's switched back on. Anyone know how true this is?

What make is your box?

The silver Panasonic ones are prone to breaking, but it is not neccessarily linked to turning it off. How they break usually afaiac is by changing the channels too quickly holding down the channel up button for example, this causes an error in the box and the picture freezes and/or the buttons on the control no longer work. If this happens don't press the standby button on the remote or the box. Turn it off at the wall, and leave it off for half an hour. Then turn it on and pray. It may come back to life or it may be permanently bust.

The other manufacturer one which is a smaller white box, I have not heard of any similar problems.

If you have a Panasonic, I would play safe and leave it well alone. If you have a white one, you should be ok but there's no guarantees.

For our information, these sky boxes use 17 watts whether switched on or in standby so there's no point putting it in standby.

gromituk

Wig wrote:

For our information, these sky boxes use 17 watts whether switched on or in standby so there's no point putting it in standby.

What a terrible waste. Come on government - legislate against these things!

tim_n

well I have a 2nd sky box which I turn off whenever I want. If sky want to pay the extra electricity they can, meantime I'll turn it on when I'm at home. It's an extra fire risk and damaging to the enviroment. I'd like to see them try and prosecute in court!

And yes its in my contract, but I've not signed anything so I don't see how I can be held to it.

gromituk

I guess that keeping your box plugged in keeps the LNB (the thing in the middle of the satellite dish) warm, which helps to keep the damp out.

Surf_Widow

Thanks for your advice everyone - I think I'll continue to switch it off at the plug and if it blows up I'll get a freeview box instead, saving me even more money!

Wig wrote:

What make is your box?

The silver Panasonic ones are prone to breaking, but it is not neccessarily linked to turning it off.

It's certainly silver and I think Panasonic. We've had it since we first got Sky installed over 6 years ago and it's survived 2 house moves in that time, so it seems pretty sturdy - guess I'll just have to risk it though, anything to get my leccy bill down!

Jays

And to put another spanner in the works, you can't turn Sky+ off, as it needs to be on standby to record anything you have requested.