The hidden cost of cable TV - cable box power consumption

[FiftyIsTheNewTwenty]

"The LA Times reported that an idle cable DVR box consumes 35 watts of power every hour (this is in addition to how much power it uses when the box is in use). In California, it costs on average $8 per month to power each cable DVR box. If you have two DVRs and one of the smaller cable boxes, you could easily be looking at $20 a month in electrical bills just to power your cable equipment.

Cable cutters have reported $20 to $30 being a very normal savings on their monthly electric bill after they canceled cable. In fact, we’ve even had people tell us their electric bill went down as much as $40 a month after they ditched cable TV! If you have two cable boxes, you’ll be paying approximately $192 a year for electrical alone."

https://ting.com/blog/the-hidden-costs-of-cable-tv/

The Apple TV is the most power-frugal.  While the Roku has been good too, the Roku 4 is up to 12.4W vs. the Roku 3's 3.5W

[slugline]

I think this article almost gets it right. Typically most of the electricity savings are actually due to the TV not being on. TVs suck more power than cable boxes.

[reader2580]

If a single DVR really takes 35 watts then it would consumer about 25 KWH a month.  At 12 cents a KW that is about $3 a month.  I watch way too much TV and I only average $55 a month for electricity at a 12 cents per KWH rate.  I have a 1,300 square foot house with basement so I'm not in some tiny apartment.  The electric costs includes using the central A/C a lot in the summer.

[justajane]

Electricity rates must be sky high in LA, considering we only pay about $50 for electricity per month total. This goes up to $100 per month in the summer. We have an energy hog of a TV and it still doesn't raise it that much. I would say our fridge might cost $20 to run a month. And they are saying a cable box uses as much as a fridge? Impossible.

[gliderpilot567]

<nitpick>
Watt the heck is a watt per hour?

Watt is a unit of rate. Specifically, one Joule per second. Since electricity usage is billed by energy consumption not power, you have to multiply Watts by a time unit to get a unit of energy. (Watt hours).

Come on LA Times....

</nitpick>

[johnny847]

<nitpick>
Watt the heck is a watt per hour?

Watt is a unit of rate. Specifically, one Joule per second. Since electricity usage is billed by energy consumption not power, you have to multiply Watts by a time unit to get a unit of energy. (Watt hours).

Come on LA Times....

</nitpick>

I was going to complain about this too.

But I believe that Ting is referencing this article http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-power-hog-20140617-story.html
And for the record LA times does not say 35 watts per hour. It's Ting's misquote (ok technically not a quote - misattribution)

[BCBiker]

The biggest cost of television is time, infinitely more expensive than electricity or cable packages.

[fattest_foot]

Electricity rates must be sky high in LA, considering we only pay about $50 for electricity per month total. This goes up to $100 per month in the summer. We have an energy hog of a TV and it still doesn't raise it that much. I would say our fridge might cost $20 to run a month. And they are saying a cable box uses as much as a fridge? Impossible.

Yes, Southern California rates are excessive. There was a post about a month ago where people were comparing usage, and my rates in California are about 3 times those of many others.

So even if I have an awesome month of low electricity usage, I'm still looking at $150 in the summer. A good month in the winter is under $75.

The ironic part is that California is huge on renewable sources. Unfortunately, the infrastructure of those has to be paid for and so our rates are sky high. I live near a massive wind farm, solar plant, and geothermal plant.

Edit: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/what's-your-average-monthly-electric-bill/

I looked it up for the thread, but the tiers for our usage are $0.15, 0.21, 0.24, and 0.31. The first tier usually phases out around 100 kWh, and the second tier at 250 kWh (they adjust based on the month).

[Jack]

<nitpick>
Watt the heck is a watt per hour?

Watt is a unit of rate. Specifically, one Joule per second. Since electricity usage is billed by energy consumption not power, you have to multiply Watts by a time unit to get a unit of energy. (Watt hours).

Come on LA Times....

</nitpick>

Obviously, "watt per hour" is a measure of the acceleration of the energy usage. Therefore, cable boxes cause your electricity bill to geometrically skyrocket!

[Northwestie]

I think the hidden cost of the cable box is your time.  I've never had cable and never plan to.  When I travel for work and stay at a hotel I'm stunned by the idiotic programs available. 99% of the stuff is crap - who watches this stuff?  Who want to watch this stuff and have your life time gobbled up?   Akkkkk!