Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Power Standby Alternatives

This looks about right. 5W per box; 25W total = just warm to touch. The 30W per G series component reported in another thread seems excessive.

My G98 is very warm to the touch in standby. It even went back to Meridian because I was so worried.

This link may explain the interaction between the X10 local control feature and flourescent lights:

http://www.smarthome.com/solution24.html

The article also describes how to disable the local control feature. Written for US X10 products, but the effect is likely similar for UK units...

Thanks for the article. That is exactly what I was seeing and backs up what I had reasoned. I think I will go with these intelligent switches rather than do the mod even if it won't affect M kit.

Ian,

Because of this thread, I rechecked my G68XXV and G98DH. They are both running just slightly above room temperature in standby as noted above and are just warm to the touch. I certainly would not describe them as you have above.

I wonder why the difference?

My G98DH is stacked on top of the G68ADV. They probably would be better if they were stacked further apart as some people had found with stacking 568/598 units - but unfortunately I do not have the space. They are in an enclosed cabinet but with good ventilation - 30x30cm hole immediately beneath the G68 and with enough holes drilled in the back of the cabinet its effectively an open back leading to a chimney to convect the warm air out - you can feel a draft from the top of the chimney!

Just measured with a probe thermistor connected to a multimeter. Bother temperatures top front right corner of each unit are about 35C which is approx 13C above room ambient and 6C above cabinet ambient.

When Meridian had my G68/98 back they apparently ran heat tests by leaving them under a blanket. Came back with clean bill of health.

So these units are giving off enough heat to raise the ambient temperature in the cabinet and still feel significantly warmer than ambient. So I am not surprised by the 30W consumption of each in standby.

I think that next time I am in Maplin I will get a power consumption meter.

I had issues with the temperature of my 568 and 598 last year - they are very warm, to the point of being hot. And Mortod's cost breakdown for his units on standby is eye-opening.

This weekend will see the big stand-by switch-off in my home!

I've been doing some measuring and experimenting but so far do not have a conclusion.

All measurements taken with a Maplin mains power and energy meter - currently on promotion! Its not a professional piece of kit but it gives consistent readings between two pieces of identical kit. It measures voltage (V), amps (A), watts (W), volt-amps(VA), hertz (Hz) and power factor (PF). Accuracy is <2%, typically 0.5% or less. Voltage was measured at 244V at 49.9Hz (50Hz).

Some measurements were taken on individual items of equipment, some on combinations. My primary reading was Watts. Where VA and amps are specified, it would have been an indicative value at a single point in time. I monitored watts over a short period of time and where readings were transient, I tried to spot a peak value.

'Active' readings for speakers were taken in mono party mode so should be consistent amongst speakers. Speaker readings were taken at approx 70 volume scale.

So basically, in standby, my modest system consumes 103W, 24/7 = 902kW of energy per annum or approx �90.

I had hoped that spending �45 on two intelligent switches would pay for themselves reasonably quickly, but unfortunately they require approx 10W difference between on and off to switch the aux sockets and for rears at least, no individual speaker (the other bits of kit other than 2 speakers are hard to get at) is consuming that in standby.

It also indicated that the kludge with DSP33's never going to standby is consuming approx 3W or power - so there is more to it than just muting the outputs.

Q1. Telewest cable box
Does anyone have experience of turning off the Telewest cable box (instead of leaving in standby)?

I have some recollection of the engineer saying that it loses its config if it has no power for more than 1 hour and they have to come out and reprogramme it. Given how difficult it is to get Telewest out I don't want to "try" it without some confidence!!


2. OLD FASHIONED APPROACH?
All my kit goes into one wall outlet with a switch. Can't I just "switch off" each night and "switch on" again the next evening?
What is the advantage of all the other solutions mentioned versus my manual old fashioned proposal?

Cheers

Andrew

The thought of not being able to use a remote is horrifying to many of us but I think the real practical issue is for people with active Meridian speakers spread around the room, it is not a matter of one mains switch to be turned on and off.

My Old M30 Mk2's turn themselves off properly.
The light goes from Red(on) to Green (off) if they get no signal for a set time period.
So it can be done.
They still sound great too, as I found on the new Beatles 'Love' DVD-A with DTS.
Full range sound to the rears, lesser speakers would spoil this treat.

Cheers, Chris

So what's powering the RED LED?

The M33's consume 5W in this 'OFF' mode which may be comparable to your M30's?

I must admit that I am not 'anal' enough to worry about 5W each from my pair of rear M33's, but the 29W of the G68 and 20W of G98DH IMHO should be under 10W in standby. The 10W of DSP33's is only a concern because I have 3 of them.

OK, 20 I have 6 x 50W of dimmable low voltage halogens above my head but at least when I turn them off I know that their consumption is negligible.