# TiVo mini poor power efficiency



## Wdeertz (Aug 18, 2015)

I have 4 TiVo minis used on the bedroom TVs which only get occasional use. From Kill-a-watt I see the minis consume about 10 watts (power usage doesn't vary much from when watching TV or not, putting in standby only reduced 1-2 watts). How is it possible for the Roamio Pro to do all it does on 22 watts but the mini which I believe is all solid state needs 10 watts? What inside the mini is consuming so much power (particularly when not streaming anything)?

I thought about putting a smart power strip on each mini to cut the power when not in use but found out that it takes about 5 minutes for the mini to boot up. A 5 minute boot on a simple streaming device seems a bit ridiculous, is there anyway to reduce this boot time short of leaving the power on?

It's not the end of the world but trying to be efficient and I find 350kwh per year for 4 minis used only occasionally to be high.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

I believe the mini is in constant communication with the host even when in standby which is why you'd wouldn't see much power drop. Is the power drop in standby of the mini consistent with the drop on the roamio pro?

I haven't tried to measure the usage on my mini - all I know if it stays pretty warm all the time.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

thefisch said:


> I believe the mini is in constant communication with the host even when in standby which is why you'd wouldn't see much power drop. Is the power drop in standby of the mini consistent with the drop on the roamio pro?
> 
> I haven't tried to measure the usage on my mini - all I know if it stays pretty warm all the time.


I can see network activity every second from the Mini when not watching live TV. The System Information shows my Mini at 49C, while my Roamio is 40C. Seems high but not something to worry about.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> I can see network activity every second from the Mini when not watching live TV. The System Information shows my Mini at 49C, while my Roamio is 40C. Seems high but not something to worry about.


I didn't realize the system info (under settings I presume) would show the temperature. Here I was feeling the components


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

thefisch said:


> I didn't realize the system info (under settings I presume) would show the temperature. Here I was feeling the components


MBT is shown in C. Roamio runs a little higher than a Premiere. But it's a measurement of the motherboard, not the HDD. That would need some tweaking of the S.M.A.R.T. diags.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> MBT is shown in C. Roamio runs a little higher than a Premiere. But it's a measurement of the motherboard, not the HDD. That would need some tweaking of the S.M.A.R.T. diags.


Thanks for the info. I checked the temps last night and this morning. My mini runs about 53-55c when in use. After a night on standby, it was at 49c just after I started it back up. So yours is running cooler than mine.

For comparison, the roamio plus runs 41-42c (43c when recording and streaming at the same time) while my roamio basic runs at 44c.

The stream in the plus runs much hotter when in use, from 49c when active up to 59c when transcoding and streaming from what I saw.


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## Wdeertz (Aug 18, 2015)

thefisch said:


> I believe the mini is in constant communication with the host even when in standby which is why you'd wouldn't see much power drop. Is the power drop in standby of the mini consistent with the drop on the roamio pro?
> 
> I haven't tried to measure the usage on my mini - all I know if it stays pretty warm all the time.


Poor design, there is no need for the mini to be in continuous communication with the host. As an aside my Roamio Pro is running 33c while my mini was at 46c. The mini is a little heater, I guess come the winter it will heat up my place but now it's causing the AC to run excessively.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Wdeertz said:


> Poor design, there is no need for the mini to be in continuous communication with the host. As an aside my Roamio Pro is running 33c while my mini was at 46c. The mini is a little heater, I guess come the winter it will heat up my place but now it's causing the AC to run excessively.


That's interesting. Only way a Mini would cause your AC to run more would be if you open a window when you're watching. There are a lot of threads on this forum, but I never saw an air conditioner mentioned before.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> That's interesting. Only way a Mini would cause your AC to run more would be if you open a window when you're watching. There are a lot of threads on this forum, but I never saw an air conditioner mentioned before.


OP has said they verified the mini's are using 10w of power, I can't fathom a 10w device even if it was purely built to generate heat generating enough to cause any change in room temp or AC usage.

I get the OP is not happy about 10w but that's pretty low impact per unit when you look at other items in the house.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

JoeKustra said:


> That's interesting. Only way a Mini would cause your AC to run more would be if you open a window when you're watching. There are a lot of threads on this forum, but I never saw an air conditioner mentioned before.





dianebrat said:


> OP has said they verified the mini's are using 10w of power, I can't fathom a 10w device even if it was purely built to generate heat generating enough to cause any change in room temp or AC usage.
> 
> I get the OP is not happy about 10w but that's pretty low impact per unit when you look at other items in the house.


Have you considered the possibility he's making a little joke?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

ej42137 said:


> Have you considered the possibility he's making a little joke?


little being the keyword there...
but it's clear the OP is rather zealous with their concern about power usage and heat dissipation in the mini, more so than most mini owners.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dianebrat said:


> little being the keyword there...
> but it's clear the OP is rather zealous with their concern about power usage and heat dissipation in the mini, more so than most mini owners.


I really wish you'd stop using plural pronouns to refer to a singular person.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I really wish you'd stop using plural pronouns to refer to a singular person.


They/their is perfectly acceptable to use when you do not have the gender of the person available, nothing says everyone should be default referred to as male


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

dianebrat said:


> They/their is perfectly acceptable to use when you do not have the gender of the person available, nothing says everyone should be default referred to as male


The surgeon is his MOTHER!!!


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

krkaufman said:


> The surgeon is his MOTHER!!!


*OH*: is that why the Mini takes 10 watts OMG


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

lessd said:


> *OH*: is that why the Mini takes 10 watts OMG


Yes, the Mini's gender is critical. If the Mini v1 and v2 are male, we can hope that the Bolt version is female and will still function as well or better while being fed only 50-75% as much power.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

krkaufman said:


> Yes, the Mini's gender is critical. If the Mini v1 and v2 are male, we can hope that the Bolt version is female and will still function as well or better while being fed only 50-75% as much power.


Minis are obviously male. Like biological males they are only necessary to reproduce (a signal) and also like males they are an evolutionary afterthought.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

dianebrat said:


> They/their is perfectly acceptable to use when you do not have the gender of the person available, nothing says everyone should be default referred to as male


Well the rules of English grammar do; but your point is well taken nevertheless.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Wdeertz said:


> I have 4 TiVo minis used on the bedroom TVs which only get occasional use. From Kill-a-watt I see the minis consume about 10 watts (power usage doesn't vary much from when watching TV or not, putting in standby only reduced 1-2 watts). How is it possible for the Roamio Pro to do all it does on 22 watts but the mini which I believe is all solid state needs 10 watts? What inside the mini is consuming so much power (particularly when not streaming anything)?
> 
> I thought about putting a smart power strip on each mini to cut the power when not in use but found out that it takes about 5 minutes for the mini to boot up. A 5 minute boot on a simple streaming device seems a bit ridiculous, is there anyway to reduce this boot time short of leaving the power on?
> 
> It's not the end of the world but trying to be efficient and I find 350kwh per year for 4 minis used only occasionally to be high.


Something must be wrong. I thought I remember the Mini using 5.5 watts when in use and 4.5 watts in standby?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> Something must be wrong. I thought I remember the Mini using 5.5 watts when in use and 4.5 watts in standby?


My Kill-A-Watt sits on 5 watts, with 6 watts sometimes while streaming. I've never had it calibrated.


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## waterchange (Jun 29, 2010)

Here's a post from 2013 showing the Mini drawing between 4.5 and 5.5 watts as measured by Kill-A-Watt
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=502237


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

waterchange said:


> Here's a post from 2013 showing the Mini drawing between 4.5 and 5.5 watts as measured by Kill-A-Watt
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=502237


That's why I thought something was wrong with the 10 watts posted by the OP.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> That's why I thought something was wrong with the 10 watts posted by the OP.


I may have an old Kill-A-Watt since it doesn't have a decimal point. That might explain why my number was a milliwatt or so higher.

Speaking of power:http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10607969#post10607969


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