# Roamio power consumption stats?



## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Anyone with a Kill-A-Watt measure the new Roamio boxes power consumption?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Someone did the basic model and said it was 14W with all 4 tuners going.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Dan203 said:


> Someone did the basic model and said it was 14W with all 4 tuners going.


Yeah, I just ran across that post. Darn forum search option didn't pick it up.

That is a nice improvement over the Premiere line. Not as nice as the Mini at around 9W but still amazing.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Hard drives pull about 5w, so that would account for the difference. It's actually pretty incredible that the base Roamio is so low, it has tuners and wireless.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Philmatic said:


> Hard drives pull about 5w, so that would account for the difference.


Don't you mean non-SSD hard drives?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

14w is really impressive. Interested to see what the Pro/Plus will pull with that transcoding chip on there (under load and idle).


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

mr_smits said:


> Don't you mean non-SSD hard drives?


SSD aren't hard drives


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Dan203 said:


> SSD aren't hard drives


Oh come on now. No need to split hairs. SSDs replace hard drives and perform the same functions as hard drives.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I was only splitting the hair you had already split.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Hush. I'm busy trying to split it yet again.


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## Stevesreed (Jun 24, 2002)

14W is definitely better than 22w on the Premiere.

I'd still rather not run it 24/7. does anyone know if they added a sleep function on the Roamios?

I currently run a timer that turns on the premiere at 5:30pm and off at midnight, but I've never been fond of that brute for solution.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

There is a sleep function on all TiVos but it doesn't do much to save power since the TiVo continues to record.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Stevesreed said:


> 14W is definitely better than 22w on the Premiere.
> 
> I'd still rather not run it 24/7. does anyone know if they added a sleep function on the Roamios?
> 
> I currently run a timer that turns on the premiere at 5:30pm and off at midnight, but I've never been fond of that brute for solution.


I have been doing that for years on my TiVo, I turn it off at 4:30am and back on at 5PM so any updates can fully load at 2am


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I can't do that in my setups. The TiVo could be reocording something at any time during the 24 hours in a day. Now that I've duplicated all SP on both my Elites, it is usually recording on all four tuners when I walk by. So I should be ok with six tuners most of the time.

Since i'll be selling both of my Elites I'll have an extra watt meter to use on another device. i'm using over a dozen of them on different devices.

I still don't see where anyone has posted the wattage that the Pro or Plus uses.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

aaronwt said:


> I still don't see where anyone has posted the wattage that the Pro or Plus uses.


When you get yours let us know.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

aaronwt said:


> I can't do that in my setups. The TiVo could be reocording something at any time during the 24 hours in a day. Now that I've duplicated all SP on both my Elites, it is usually recording on all four tuners when I walk by. So I should be ok with six tuners most of the time.
> 
> Since i'll be selling both of my Elites I'll have an extra watt meter to use on another device. i'm using over a dozen of them on different devices.
> 
> I still don't see where anyone has posted the wattage that the Pro or Plus uses.


Did you buy a Roamio and test the power consumption?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

mr_smits said:


> Did you buy a Roamio and test the power consumption?


I'm waiting for it to be delivered to BestBuy. It's supposed to show up either Tuesday or Thursday. I'll connect it to a Belkin energy use monitor when I get it.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

aaronwt said:


> I'm waiting for it to be delivered to BestBuy. It's supposed to show up either Tuesday or Thursday. I'll connect it to a Belkin energy use monitor when I get it.


Great! If you have time, include energy used when Streaming to tablet/phone as well.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

9w and 14w is a little better than my 360 extender (70w idle in dashboard) and htpc (> 50w idle, ....) i guess it does sleep 1/3rd of the day though.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

trip1eX said:


> 9w and 14w is a little better than my 360 extender (70w idle in dashboard) and htpc (> 50w idle, ....) i guess it does sleep 1/3rd of the day though.


12 cents per KWh

On 16 hours per day	
_______________wH/hr_____$/month___$/year 
HTPC.................50............3.10...........35.04
360 Extender.......70............4.20...........50.00

On 24 hours per day	
_______________wH/hr_____$/month___$/year 
Tivo Roamio........	14.............1.24..........14.72
Tivo Premiere......	22.............1.86..........23.13
Tivo Mini.............9..............0.93...........9.46


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

When I first powered on my Roamio Pro I saw the wattage meter hit around 26 watts initially and then dropped down. When I looked after it finished booting it was around 16 watts.

I'm making a connection to TiVo right now and while downloading it's fluctuating between 20.5 watts and 21 watts.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

aaronwt said:


> When I first powered on my Roamio Pro I saw the wattage meter hit around 26 watts initially and then dropped down. When I looked after it finished booting it was around 16 watts.
> 
> I'm making a connection to TiVo right now and while downloading it's fluctuating between 20.5 watts and 21 watts.


Good to know. Any numbers while using Stream to iOS device?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I had initiated a "Clear and Delete" last night. This morning it was drawing around 21 watts, just sitting there for setup, before I pulled the plug. I'll be starting over again tonight with a new cable card. 

At least I know now I can connect to the Roamio with my Minis. Now I just need to transfer all my SPs after I get the new cable card in.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Everytime I look at the meter on my Roamio Pro it's been drawing around 21 watts. So I guess when buffering all six tuners it's around 21 watts. And when not it's around 16 watts.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

It's always buffering all 6 channels. Unless you force a tuner to a channel you don't get. What if you put it into standby? Does that have a noticeable effect on power consumption?
Is there any way to turn off the internal Stream? If so turn that off and see if it effects the usage?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> It's always buffering all 6 channels. Unless you force a tuner to a channel you don't get. What if you put it into standby? Does that have a noticeable effect on power consumption?
> Is there any way to turn off the internal Stream? If so turn that off and see if it effects the usage?


I didn't notice any options for the Stream part of it. Plus I can't even test it since I don't have any Apple products.

I just tried standby. It took it down to around 20 watts( I saw it as low as 19.8 watts). So it reduced the wattage used by 1 to 1.5 watts. Since when not in standby it does fluctuate above 21 watts.


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## ncbill (Sep 1, 2007)

I wonder how much the Roamio Basic would use powered direct from 12VDC.

Anybody got a Fluke?


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## pbubel (Jan 31, 2002)

lessd said:


> I have been doing that for years on my TiVo, I turn it off at 4:30am and back on at 5PM so any updates can fully load at 2am


So I'm wondering if the power savings (Roughly $10/$15) a year, is outweighed by the potential damage to the TiVo. All of those hard power cuts aren't great for the drive. Ever had any problems? How long have you been doing that for? Just wondering out loud...


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Modern drives auto-park when the power is cut. They use the momentum of the spinning platters to park the head, so there is no damage to a drive by simply cutting it's power.

That being said I personally do the opposite. I have my TiVos connected to UPSes and never cut their power unless they have a problem that requires a hard reboot or we have a power outage long enough to drain the UPS batteries.


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## pbubel (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Modern drives auto-park when the power is cut. They use the momentum of the spinning platters to park the head, so there is no damage to a drive by simply cutting it's power.
> 
> That being said I personally do the opposite. I have my TiVos connected to UPSes and never cut their power unless they have a problem that requires a hard reboot or we have a power outage long enough to drain the UPS batteries.


Good point on auto park. But still cutting the power from a device designed to operate 24x7 clearly puts a little extra strain on it. Just not sure why anybody would do that to save so little money each year.

I do the same thing as you and have my TiVo on a UPS to ensure its always running.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

pbubel said:


> But still cutting the power from a device designed to operate 24x7 clearly puts a little extra strain on it.


That's an argument as old as the HDD itself. Some people argue that leaving it spinning 24/7 shortens the life while others say that the strain of constantly spinning up from a stop shortens the life. Studies have been done that favor both positions, but usually the margin of error is about the same as the difference.

That being said, I agree that it doesn't seem worth the risk for such a minor power savings.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I run mine all the time and they are connected to to a ups like all my electronics. But I can see why someone might shut it off for half the day. The savings add up from multiple devices. A dollar here and a dollar there add up in the savings on the electric bill each month.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I'm just not that frugal.


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## pbubel (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> That's an argument as old as the HDD itself. Some people argue that leaving it spinning 24/7 shortens the life while others say that the strain of constantly spinning up from a stop shortens the life. Studies have been done that favor both positions, but usually the margin of error is about the same as the difference.
> 
> That being said, I agree that it doesn't seem worth the risk for such a minor power savings.


Yes sir it is. One day TiVo's will use SSD's and that won't matter anymore. I'd also worry about the power supply from the daily shutoffs.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

pbubel said:


> So I'm wondering if the power savings (Roughly $10/$15) a year, is outweighed by the potential damage to the TiVo. All of those hard power cuts aren't great for the drive. Ever had any problems? How long have you been doing that for? Just wondering out loud...


Been doing for the last 3 years, without any problems, nothing every corrupted that I saw, the TiVo may fix the files itself as people have the power cut to TiVos all the time in normal use, power loss, a hard re-boot, moving the TiVo, etc. I do give it 2.5 hours after 2AM to make sure any software update is atomically put in the TiVo. The last thing TiVo would want is many people having problems after any power interruptions as most TiVo users, not on this forum, do not use a UPS on the TiVo. 
As for the electronics, I turn off my TV, my DVD player, my sound amp. system, and my Computer (to sleep mode), not any problem with modern electronics.
People have their own hang up on this subject, so do what you feel good about. Long term heat can harm electronics as starting up electronics may, never saw any study on the subject.


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## pbubel (Jan 31, 2002)

lessd said:


> Been doing for the last 3 years, without any problems, nothing every corrupted that I saw, the TiVo may fix the files itself as people have the power cut to TiVos all the time in normal use, power loss, a hard re-boot, moving the TiVo, etc. I do give it 2.5 hours after 2AM to make sure any software update is atomically put in the TiVo. The last thing TiVo would want is many people having problems after any power interruptions as most TiVo users, not on this forum, do not use a UPS on the TiVo.
> As for the electronics, I turn off my TV, my DVD player, my sound amp. system, and my Computer (to sleep mode), not any problem with modern electronics.
> People have their own hang up on this subject, so do what you feel good about. Long term heat can harm electronics as starting up electronics may, never saw any study on the subject.


Glad you haven't had any problems. You aren't really turning off those other items just putting them in standby mode, unless your actually unplugging them all. Seems like a lot of efforts with little gain to power cycle the TiVo daily, but hey if it doesn't hurt anything and saves you a couple bucks a year sounds good to me.

One day I'd love a house with power meters on every outlet I could review from a web console. One day..


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## tlp95129 (May 17, 2008)

pbubel said:


> One day TiVo's will use SSD's and that won't matter anymore.


From what I've read about SSDs, they don't seem like a great fit for a device like a DVR. Current SSDs have a limited lifetime due to degradation after many write/erase cycles. That lifetime may be several years, but it will likely always be shorter than magnetic disks. SSDs excel in apps where you are mostly reading. A DVR, OTOH, is always writing the current tuner(s) to a disk buffer, plus any scheduled recordings. Writes will be dominant, wearing out the device more quickly than normal PC usage.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tlp95129 said:


> From what I've read about SSDs, they don't seem like a great fit for a device like a DVR. Current SSDs have a limited lifetime due to degradation after many write/erase cycles. That lifetime may be several years, but it will likely always be shorter than magnetic disks. SSDs excel in apps where you are mostly reading. A DVR, OTOH, is always writing the current tuner(s) to a disk buffer, plus any scheduled recordings. Writes will be dominant, wearing out the device more quickly than normal PC usage.


True today, but in 20 years (or less) may not be a problem for TiVo use.


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## DoctorA (Oct 18, 2014)

lessd said:


> True today, but in 20 years (or less) may not be a problem for TiVo use.


Scary thought..in 20 years I will be 85! Hope I still understand and can see and hear what I am watching!

Seriously though, appreciate the knowledge that is shared and available on the forum. Being a brand new TiVo user it is much needed.

Thanks,

Doc


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## Captainbob (Sep 1, 2014)

lessd said:


> True today, but in 20 years (or less) may not be a problem for TiVo use.


You are right, an SSD is a poor choice for a DVR. Besides, the main advantage of the SSD is speed, which is not really necessary in a DVR.


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## mntvjunkie (May 13, 2009)

It'd be nice if they threw in a small amount of flash storage that the OS could run on, but I'm not sure if that would really speed up the UI, as it doesn't resolve the slower processor issue or the fact that Tivo constantly goes out to the internet for certain parts of the UI.

Certainly would improve boot times, but seeing as how the Tivo only needs to boot after a power loss or update, may be a lot to pay for a minimal gain.


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## dochawk (Aug 1, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> That's an argument as old as the HDD itself.


Nah, I don't think it came up at all until the 5" drives.

The 14" drives (and the earlier ones) were connected to _computers_ that you wouldn't consider powering down just for overnight. I was working in an IBM computer room when power went off (someone backed into the EPO button). Only half the mainframes came back up, and we spent the rest of the night restarting the rest.

They had enough rotational inertia that the motors were used as generators if power was lost, to provide the juice to write out pending data and whathaveyou.

Clever engineers would actually race them; well-timed accesses could swing the unit enough . . . (leading to the age old management problem of, "do I fire this maniac for this reckless behavior, or give him a raise?").

By the early 90s, apple's guideline was not to turn off a machine for less than eight hours.

BTW, the very first sports replay were on Monday Night Football. They did it by using a computer hard disk and recording in analog instead of digital--a TiVo the size of a washing machine with only a few minutes of storage . . .

hawk


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

dochawk said:


> Nah, I don't think it came up at all until the 5" drives.hawk


Are you kidding? People used to have the same argument about incandescent light bulbs when I was a boy, and for the same reason; they'd observe that they would often burn out when they were cycled just like people observe that PCs often die when restarted. When I took my first computer class in 1968, there were conflicting opinions as to whether the IBM 1130 should be powered down at night or not.

I've had the same experience as you with mainframes failing to restart after a power failure. Our IBM CE explained that the EPO relays would stick if they weren't used for a long time, and he had to manipulate about half of them by hand after we turned the power off for an electrical update or we had a power failure. I think they use a different technology in the switches nowadays, in later years this problem didn't seem to happen.


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## dochawk (Aug 1, 2002)

ej42137 said:


> We actually had to replace, yes, incandescent bulbs that night. Some of the indicators blew on power restoration . . .
> 
> hawk


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## kos (Jul 26, 2015)

Before I got my Roamio OTA I looked all over the place for its power consumption numbers and didn't find them, but given that this is the first place Google sent me in search of my answer, I figured I'd revive this old thread to fill in the numbers for anyone else looking for that info.

So with my Roamio OTA, the power consumption numbers are:

*Sleeping at highest energy savings setting*: 10.7w
*When awake*: 14.6-15w

Occasionally it spikes up to 15.7w, but it normally hovers around 14.7-14.8w.

My old DirecTV genie system (its newest and most energy efficient system) would use 44w continous, or 1.056kWh per day, 385.5kWh per year. That was between 8-10 percent of my household usage, for something we maybe watched 1-2 hours a day.

In contrast, the Roamio OTA will use about 270w per day, or 104 kWh per year. That's a savings of about 281kWh per year, or $42 at my current rates. That alone will pay off the cost of my base box in a little over a year, and my $350 lifetime subscription in ... about 8 years (assuming flat electricity rates, which we know won't happen). I'll have something new by then, so at worst, it's nicely offsetting the cost.

But of course that's not including the DirecTV equipment fees, and service fees, and channels-I-don't-watch fees, and yadda yadda fees. The TiVo will cost me $15 per year (all electricity), while DirecTV was costing me about $1,400 per year. So given the $400 I spent on the Roamio OTA and lifetime sub, my break-even point will be.... somewhere around November. I'll take it!

And best of all, there's not a shred of content that I was getting that I can no longer access.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

What is the average MBT (Temp) of the Base Roamio?

Stock & Upgraded HDD


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

CoxInPHX said:


> What is the average MBT (Temp) of the Base Roamio?
> 
> Stock & Upgraded HDD


39C before the upgrade. 40C after the installation of 1TB. Numbers are +- 1C, so no difference. I used the drive from my WD MyBook AV.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

CoxInPHX said:


> What is the average MBT (Temp) of the Base Roamio?
> 
> Stock & Upgraded HDD


When I upgraded my Roamio Basic, I specifically got the 1TB WD Red drive(and not a higher capcity) because it's specs for power usage was slightly lower than the stock WD Av drive. 3.3 watts for the 1TB Red and 3.7 watts for the 500Gb WD AV drive.


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