Can you hear a difference or is it just infernal bias?
If you are the least concerned with wasting electrical energy I recommend a Kill A Watt. All other methods of calculus are merely guessing.
Warm Up Time/Cost of Operation
When I have solid state gear I will leave it on 24/7. For amplifiers this was no big deal and with certain amps previously I could hear the differences between a cold start up and 3 days of power up.
A year ago I bought a pair of Classe Omega monoblocks. A bit ago the wife was commenting on our electrical bill. I could not find online specs for power consumption but this morning I located the manual.
Consumption is listed at 706 watts. I assume this is per amp and hourly consumption. Electricity here is 12.6 cents per KWH. A calculator shows the cost of 24/7 on ad being $126 a month.
It's a bit wasteful to idle like that so I am planning on switching off moving forward. But I am wondering what should my plan be moving forward.
Thinking I will turn them on when listening in the morning casually, shut them off while at work, turn them on when I get back, and shut off when I go to bed.
Anyone have experiences running big amps like mine in this manner? Thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated.
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Hi end audio cost of ownership-spike in the electricity bill. Make sure you're on the appropriate billing plan with the energy company, based on your usage. Their may an opportunity to save something. I get a little break from medical equipment usage-sleep apnea machine. Similar to playing with hi performance cars that guzzle gas. You just accept it's part of the deal. |
OP “…Thinking I will turn them on when listening in the morning casually, shut them off while at work, turn them on when I get back, and shut off when I go to bed…”
This is a pretty good plan. You might also start a study to learn how much warmup is really required. I would imagine if you immediately turned on your amps when you got home, then come listening time, things would be good. The amps I have owned have required about 10 minutes to 45 minutes to sound their best. My current tube amp and preamp seems to sound good as soon as turned on… very different from previous generations. |
Classe Omega monoblocks. Idle power consumption per monoblock 240 watts. Per Owner’s manual page 28 Mike |
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