Hopper Energy Usage

[ShuDan]

We all use Dish in ways that vary one from another in so many respects that the complicated measurements and comparisons thereof seem like comparing apples and oranges. My question is simple.

The Hopper box says it consumes 125 watts, the equivalent of a flood lamp. And it generates the same amount of heat, even in stand-by mode. When I expressed these concerns to the customer support rep, he explained how you can schedule to, in his words, "turn it off" after a selected interval of inactivity and "turn it back on" at a certain time. I found out later that these settings only refer to stand-by mode. So I looked online and on this forum to find out the wattage consumption of stand-by, because the next rep I talked with had no idea. I have the same questions about the Joey, which doesn't even have a wattage number on any of it's labels. All I'm after is to keep our electric bill down since we live on a modest, fixed income. In the absence of information about any reduced power draw in stand-by mode, if any, we've decided simply to turn off the power strip when we're done for the day and back on 15 or 20 minutes before we want to begin watching again the next day, to allow the updated guide, etc. to load. Yes, yes - system updates, etc. can't occur when it's off but let them happen when we turn it on again. Why would we want to keep a flood lamp on 24 hours a day? Comments, reactions welcomed.

 

[HipKat]

I'd say the Joey uses much less since it's not really doing anything in the background. It's not waiting for recordings, or actually recording anything, for example.

 

[Partysox]

I mean seriously I am low budget too but what are you saving a month like 50 cents compared to the strain your putting on your equipment by the on and off strain, it does not seem worth it to me imo.

 

[joewhite57]

I mean seriously I am low budget too but what are you saving a month like 50 cents compared to the strain your putting on your equipment by the on and off strain, it does not seem worth it to me imo.

Yup, internal drive spinning up and down. IC chips heating and cooling. Formula for increased failure rate.

 

[Brussam]

Forcing a Hopper to go through a Switch Check every time you turn on the power strip will burn a bunch of the energy you thought you saved by turning the power trip off.

If you are seriously concerned about the cost of the energy that a Hopper uses in stand-by mode, you perhaps should no have the cost of the Hopper in your budget.

 

[DWS44]

Do you not use your Hopper to record anything? For me, the biggest point of having a DVR is to record things when I'm not watching TV, which would be a bit difficult if the box was completely powered off during those times. If you aren't using it to record anything, why have one? You could drop back to a pair of Wally or older 211 non-DVR boxes? They might even consume less energy, but don't know.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its always doing something, download guide data, VOD content, software updates, app updates, app data, receiving security authorization packets, looking to serve any joey boxes on your network, listening for Sling connections so you can watch from remote and so on.

Turning the power off really only stops the video output from going to the video ports, yet everything is still running in the background.

If you want to see how much power its using get yourself a Kill O Watt meter. The people answer the phones at DISH do not have anything about power consumption in their scripts. Remember most people answer phones at DISH have probably never even really used a Hopper.

Amazon product ASIN B00009MDBU

 

[JSheridan]

I've got an APC UPS that displays how much wattage the connected devices are using. With 2 Hopper 3's, a DPH42 switch, 2 EHD's and a modulator it now says it's using about 80 watts.

 

[bobvick]

I've got an APC UPS that displays how much wattage the connected devices are using. With 2 Hopper 3's, a DPH42 switch, 2 EHD's and a modulator it now says it's using about 80 watts.

I’d hate to see your power bill, LOL

 

[bobvick]

If you are seriously concerned about the cost of the energy that a Hopper uses in stand-by mode, you perhaps should not have the cost of the Hopper in your budget.

Great statement. Can’t agree more.

 

[JSheridan]

I’d hate to see your power bill, LOL

Yea it's pretty bad, especially this time of year with the AC running all the time.

I just counted and between the house, office and shop there's a total of 6 Hoppers, 1 Super Joey, 2 Joeys, 2 DirecTV Genies and 4 HR-24's. And I'm probably forgetting something.

 

[bobvick]

Yea it's pretty bad, especially this time of year with the AC running all the time.

I just counted and between the house, office and shop there's a total of 6 Hoppers, 1 Super Joey, 2 Joeys, 2 DirecTV Genies and 4 HR-24's. And I'm probably forgetting something.

Is here too, this time of year with the heat approaching 95-100 degrees. I was of course, being sarcastic about the 80 Watts the two H3s and the switch were using

 

[navychop]

Let us consider 100 watts times 24 hours a day times 30 days. That’s 72 kWH. At the national average of about 12 cents, that’s about $8.64 a month.

That’s pretty near worst case. I’d expect the actual, real world cost to be less than half that, even though the Hopper is constantly doing something. The high rating on devices is geared toward start up current, not steady state use.


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[n0qcu]

Its always doing something, download guide data, VOD content, software updates, app updates, app data, receiving security authorization packets, looking to serve any joey boxes on your network, listening for Sling connections so you can watch from remote and so on.

Turning the power off really only stops the video output from going to the video ports, yet everything is still running in the background.

If you want to see how much power its using get yourself a Kill O Watt meter. The people answer the phones at DISH do not have anything about power consumption in their scripts. Remember most people answer phones at DISH have probably never even really used a Hopper.

Amazon product ASIN B00009MDBU

Right now my H3 is using approximately 34 Watts both in standby and on watching a recording playback.
Hardly worth worrying about.

 

[bwexler]

Let us consider 100 watts times 24 hours a day times 30 days. That’s 72 kWH. At the national average of about 12 cents, that’s about $8.64 a month.

That’s pretty near worst case. I’d expect the actual, real world cost to be less than half that, even though the Hopper is constantly doing something. The high rating on devices is geared toward start up current, not steady state use.


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That estimate is nowhere near worst case. Just yesterday I called San Diego Gas & Electric to complain about my $235 Electric bill which was $40 higher than some month last year even though consumption was down. They tried to explain the multiple components of their bill, which adds up to only 27 cents a kilowatt hour. So my H3 and Joey are probably costing me $10 a month and my computer another $10 a month for power. Gee maybe I just need to get rid of all my electronics. I am also on a fixed income.
Uh, probably not going to happen.

 

[navychop]

I was referring to worst case power usage, not total cost.

If you live in the People’s Republic of California, you got lots of other problem$.

:;


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[glynnp]

I was referring to worst case power usage, not total cost.

If you live in the People’s Republic of California, you got lots of other problem$.

:;


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5 stars

 

[JSheridan]

That estimate is nowhere near worst case. Just yesterday I called San Diego Gas & Electric to complain about my $235 Electric bill which was $40 higher than some month last year even though consumption was down. They tried to explain the multiple components of their bill, which adds up to only 27 cents a kilowatt hour. So my H3 and Joey are probably costing me $10 a month and my computer another $10 a month for power. Gee maybe I just need to get rid of all my electronics. I am also on a fixed income.
Uh, probably not going to happen.

Or you could move out of California.

 

[Bobby]

I live in that republic and I have no issue with my electric bill. I am retired and on SS as well...

 

[navychop]

I haven’t been to the San Diego zoo in decades yet I still remember it. Need to visit the hummingbirds. I wonder what their energy use is?


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