Hike in electricity prices and timers on routers.

[newbuilder]

After reading an article at thinkbroadband :: The UK's largest independent Broadband / ADSL comparison & review website I am interested to see that some people are putting their router on a timer.

Has anyone tried this?

Does it upset the router or Sky's monitoring software for line speeds?

Could I also put my external HDD enclosure on it? - it is plugged directly into the router.

Is it worth it for the 6 or seven hours?

[Saturday]

Originally Posted by newbuilder

Is it worth it for the 6 or seven hours?

Turning the router off at night would save about 5p a week - and shorten its life.

[penrhyn]

The plate on the back of my router says 12v 1 amp, ie 12 watts.

Thats 12*24*365= 105.12 KW per year.

Assume 12 pence per unit that's around £12.60.

So if your router is off for half the time you will save around £6.00.

[Isitme]

I suppose when you are getting free replacements from Sky, it does not matter, but turning off the router every day could shorten it's life. This could be more expensive than the few pounds per year you will save by turning it off. This does not even take into account the larger carbon footprint caused by manufacturing a new router.

[Ratcliffes]

Anyone interested in these kind of arguments should read this Phone chargers - the truth

and if that doesn't put you off, you should also read this - Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air

Finally some sense on green issues from someone qualified to do the calculations (not a spin doctor or some media johnny at the BBC - a Cambridge Physics Professor)

There is a useful electricity cost calculator here if you can't do the calculations yourself easily - Electricity Running Cost Calculator from UK Power

Isitme is of course quite right. the amount of energy which goes into the manufacture of a piece of electronics like a router is quite shocking. If you did take even 25% off its design life by switching it off overnight then the chances are it wouldn't be worth it as far as the carbon footprint argument is concerned.

[Saturday]

Originally Posted by penrhyn

So if your router is off for half the time you will save around £6.00.

The router won't be drawing at a constant rate - the 12 watts you quote would be peak i.e. when the router is under load. Assuming that it would be sitting idle for a fair part of the time, I think the actual consumption saved would be significantly less than that.

[Isitme]

I have recently bought on of these to help save on electricity. One press of a button switches of the large screen TV, Hifi, DVD player, VCR and speakers. The Sky+ and my HDD DVD recorder are plugged into the 'mains' sockets and remain on standby. The beauty of it is that you can train any remote to operate it, so no extra remote as most other devices like this require. It will pay for itself in a few months. I have these fitted to my PCs to turn everything off except the router. Shutting down the PC shuts off the power to all the peripherals.

[Brian69]

If you are worried about carbon footprints, leave the router on and take fewer car trips. the cost savings in switching off a router are very small. My Sagem with wireless disabled uses 6W