Comments on: How to Tame Your DVR’s Appetite for Energy: Starve It http://fivepercent.us/2009/10/20/how-to-tame-your-dvrs-appetite-for-energy-starve-it/ If you cannot change the world by yourself, start by making a small change ... just 5% less is easy, and here's how. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:19:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Guy Marsden http://fivepercent.us/2009/10/20/how-to-tame-your-dvrs-appetite-for-energy-starve-it/comment-page-1/#comment-62496 Guy Marsden Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:14:48 +0000 http://fivepercent.us/?p=1319#comment-62496 I have a Dish Network DVR/satellite box that lets me program the time of day (night actually) that it downloads programming data. So I set it to 1:30am. Then I set my timer to turn off the whole entertainment system (32 Watt total when "off") at 2:00am. It turns on in time for the 6:00pm news. That saves a LOT of kWh/month. Here's the digital timer that I use. About $10 and has a button for manual override and battery backup. Sweet: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95205 I have a Dish Network DVR/satellite box that lets me program the time of day (night actually) that it downloads programming data. So I set it to 1:30am. Then I set my timer to turn off the whole entertainment system (32 Watt total when “off”) at 2:00am. It turns on in time for the 6:00pm news. That saves a LOT of kWh/month.

Here’s the digital timer that I use. About $10 and has a button for manual override and battery backup. Sweet:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95205

]]> By: Tom Harrison http://fivepercent.us/2009/10/20/how-to-tame-your-dvrs-appetite-for-energy-starve-it/comment-page-1/#comment-62453 Tom Harrison Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:53:19 +0000 http://fivepercent.us/?p=1319#comment-62453 Do you mean a cable box plus external DVR (e.g. TiVo), as opposed to the DVR in a CableBox you can rent? In the former case, time to get a new TiVo -- ever since they started doing HD, they accept a CableCARD (two actually) which entirely replaced my (pig of a) cable box; the new TiVo (well, a couple years old now) is much more efficient than the Motorola cable box. In the latter case (cable box is also a DVR) get a TiVo. Ours reboots in about 3 minutes and is clever enough to remember what it downloaded last time. Is it really the case that a power outage causes the Cable DVR to forget all of the channels? Lame! Get a TiVo. Do you mean a cable box plus external DVR (e.g. TiVo), as opposed to the DVR in a CableBox you can rent?

In the former case, time to get a new TiVo — ever since they started doing HD, they accept a CableCARD (two actually) which entirely replaced my (pig of a) cable box; the new TiVo (well, a couple years old now) is much more efficient than the Motorola cable box.

In the latter case (cable box is also a DVR) get a TiVo. Ours reboots in about 3 minutes and is clever enough to remember what it downloaded last time. Is it really the case that a power outage causes the Cable DVR to forget all of the channels? Lame! Get a TiVo.

]]> By: John http://fivepercent.us/2009/10/20/how-to-tame-your-dvrs-appetite-for-energy-starve-it/comment-page-1/#comment-62452 John Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:03:08 +0000 http://fivepercent.us/?p=1319#comment-62452 One extra thing: In my experience, a combined DVR+cable box can take as long as 45 minutes to download all of the channel and guide information: This is Comcast in Cambridge, Mass. It stinks. But it means that if one's DVR is on a timer, you'd want it to power up quite a bit before you would want to watch something on it. One extra thing: In my experience, a combined DVR+cable box can take as long as 45 minutes to download all of the channel and guide information: This is Comcast in Cambridge, Mass. It stinks. But it means that if one’s DVR is on a timer, you’d want it to power up quite a bit before you would want to watch something on it.

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