Does a higher volume waste more energy?

Question

Does a radio waste more energy when it is turned up loud ?? is there a difference in energy usage from a radio that is turned up loud from one that has a lower volume?

Thanks :)

*something ive always wanted to know*

Answer 1

Yes, your volume k**b is a potentiometer that regulates the flow of electric current to the speakers.  More current flowing to your speakers allows greater volume.  Here is more information on the subject than you'd ever want to know:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiomet...

Answer 2

Your battery powered radio will run longer with the volume turned down.  It will last even longer with headphones, because even if it sounds louder, they're close to your ears, and the inverse square law makes lower energy sound louder.

Answer 3

It does make a difference in a battery-operated radio, because minimizing power use there is important.  But for a radio designed to operate from the AC mains, the difference will be small.  It makes a difference only in the final audio amplifier stages, and they are usually operated class A for best linearity.  In class A, average power dissipation doesn't depend on the audio signal level.

Answer 4

When the batteries become weak/nearly discharged in a portable radio I notice the loudness decreasing. Based on that I would surmise higher volume does require more power.

Answer 5

The volume of any solid, liquid, gas, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically. So for me, higher volume waste more energy.

For more info about Volume, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume

Answer 6

Yes, the higher the volume, the more power it consumes.