How much power does a home theater receiver user when in standby mode?

Question

I'm thinking of buying one of those smart powerstrips that turns off power to your entire system when you turn off the TV. It is supposed to eliminate the "vampire" load. My Onkyo TX-SR605 is a 900W system I believe. I wonder what kind of power it draws when it's just sitting there in standby mode. I want to calc my savings if I use one of these smartstrips.

Answer 1

This is a bad idea.

Many televisions and modern AV receivers need power all the time to respond to remote control signals and to 'remember' various setup information. Pulling power over a long weekend or vacation may result in your receiver going back to factory default settings.

You only want to use the smart powerstrips for simple (like a light bulb) electronics. External amplifiers or self-powered subwoofers are often hooked to these power strips.

But not the TV, cable box, receiver.

Answer 2

i don't know about the 605 but here is  something on the 805 from "secrets home theater & hifi"

"Another significant observation, particularly in these times of energy and environmental conservation, is the 805's power consumption.  Like other receivers I have checked on, it uses less electricity at idle when it is set to 4 ohm: about 95 watts drawn from the wall as compared to 135 watts when in the  6 ohm setting.  More distressing though is that if HDMI-Control is enabled, the 805 will draw 68 watts when completely turned off! Compare that to an almost immeasurable >2 watts when that feature is disabled.  What HDMI-Control does is let the Onkyo control another piece of equipment via HDMI.  For example, turning on the Onkyo could also turn on a TV or Blu-Ray player connected via HDMI.  At my present cost of power, that "convenience" will run me $60 a year.  In my opinion, this is a significant waste of power, especially when the same can be achieved through macros on a remote, or other more power miserly means."