Energy Sucking Monsters

Recently I had to replace my FiOS set top box. It was overheating so much it had disabled the DVR function. I love my DVR function.

It took a couple of days and about three hours on the phone with tech support somewhere in Indiana but I finally got the replacement box up and running. I was happy again until I read this story by Eisabeth Rosenthal in The New York Times and realized that my little set top box is robbing me blind. Apparently these seemingly benign black boxes are the “single largest electricity drain in many American homes, with some typical home entertainment configurations eating more power than a new refrigerator and even some central air-conditioning systems.”

“These set-top boxes are energy hogs mostly because their drives, tuners and other components are generally running full tilt, or nearly so, 24 hours a day, even when not in active use. The recent study, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, concluded that the boxes consumed $3 billion in electricity per year in the United States — and that 66 percent of that power is wasted when no one is watching and shows are not being recorded. That is more power than the state of Maryland uses over 12 months.”

Seriously?

That’s a real problem. I'm beginning to rethink my DVR relationship.