What is the exact power consumption of a Sky+ HD box?

[StephenSky]

Despite exhaustive searching, I can't find a definitive answer to this simple question. The power label on the back very unhelpfully states, '45W Maximum'.

1. How much power does it use when the green LED is lit?
2. How much power does it use when you put it on 'standby', when the orange LED is lit?

Surely someone knows the exact answer rather than a guess?

(Yes, I know about the software updates etc need the power on etc - I'm not interested - just want to know how much electric one of the most ubiquitous bits of equipment uses in millions of homes?)

Sky power

[Mark39 · Accepted solution]

Hard to be exact, as it depends on what the box is doing, e.g. whether the hard disk is spinning. 

I've previously measured it be about 34w when the box is active and around 30w when it's in (amber) standby. In eco (red) standby if your box supports it, it's about 0.5w.

If you want something more accurate, you'd be best to invest in a power monitoring adaptor to plug the box into.

[StephenSky]

---

@Mark39 wrote:

Hard to be exact, as it depends on what the box is doing, e.g. whether the hard disk is spinning. 

I've previously measured it be about 34w when the box is active and around 30w when it's in (amber) standby. In eco (red) standby if your box supports it, it's about 0.5w.

---

Wow, that's about 263 KwH per year (24 hours/day usage). At 45p/KwH, that's £120/year on electric.. Nice to see that Sky is so 'green' LOL

[TimmyBGood]

---

@StephenSky wrote:

 Nice to see that Sky is so 'green' LOL

---

The most recent Sky+ HD box dates from 2015, and was a decade old product then.  Power consumption was much less of a concern both for it and Sky Q: internal transformers, spinning hard drives and fans are really not ideal for an 'always on' product.

Putting it in perspective, when Sky+ was designed a single incandescent lightbulb would typically consume three times more power than a Sky box.

[StephenSky]

Good analogy to the comparison with a light bulb. Nowadays, with an 8W LED bulb, my Sky box now consumes over 4 times the amount of electricity! Still, worth my original post as I have now learned about the 'eco' mode, which my box has (never knew), and is now activated....

However, it does pose another question. If I have a recording set when it is in 'eco' mode, does it automatically turn itself on, or do I lose the recording?

[Mark39]

---

@StephenSky wrote:

However, it does pose another question. If I have a recording set when it is in 'eco' mode, does it automatically turn itself on....

---

Yes. It will also receive (rare) software updates in eco mode.

[StephenSky]

I have been using the 'eco' option on my box now for 3 weeks and feel quite smug about it! No side effects whatsoever apart from saving electric. For fun, I jotted down how much electric I have squandered in the past without 'eco'.

Assuming 10 hours stanby/day, that is 30w x 10 = 300w/day

300w x 365 = 109500w/year = 109.5Kw/year

at 45p/Kwh = £49.30/year just for the priviledge of leaving on full standby

In 10 years that is almost £500 wasted, for absolutely no gain whatsoever! (yes I know, a bit of poetic license as the price has been less in previous years!)

But still, as a nation, we must squander £Millions on absolutely nothing!

[Mark39]

@StephenSky you may not be saving as much as you would like by using Eco mode, as it's active for only a short window: 2.45am (it might be 1:45, can't remember) to 5,45am Better than nothing, though 🙂

[StephenSky]

---

@Mark39 wrote:

@StephenSky you may not be saving as much as you would like by using Eco mode, as it's active for only a short window: 2.45am (it might be 1:45, can't remember) to 5,45am Better than nothing, though 🙂

---

I may have a very old box LOL My Sky+HD stays on eco mode right through the day (afterswitching off overnight) and will stay on right to maybe 7pm when I switch it back on again.

[robsie]

Hi found this info.

 

[akh48]

Is it best to have standby mode set to Active, where your box will go into standby automatically if not in use or Eco when your box will automatically turn off at night when not in use.

I opted for Active on the presumption it will be on standby whenever my tv is off rather than Eco only on standby at night am I right?

[xenon81]

Eco Mode does the same as Active, but with the addition of a low power standby overnight, so you save more electricity. You don't get the overnight low power mode when set to Active.