In sci.electronics.misc Lizard Blizzard wrote:
Ian Stirling wrote:

In sci.electronics.misc Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" wrote:

I was watching the local ABC News and they had a piece on vampire
appliances. They said that an appliance could be using about 5 watts
when it's turned off, and that's about $4.00 a month. This sounded a
bit high to me. But since I don't get an electric bill, I have no way
to tell.
snip
Some devices draw lots more power when "off".
My satellite reciever draws almost exactly the same power when off and
when on. Off is around 30W, on around 32.
snip
They mention that sat rcvrs draw almost as much power. What did you use
to measure the power with? A DMM on the AC current range? Then
multiply by the line voltage? I sure miss my Amprobe, which got stolen.
Really handy, however it required that the hot lead of the line cord
be separated from the others.
It was a kila-watt clone, which is a little device you plug into the
socket, and then plug your device into.
The reason is that it wants to keep practically all of the
circuitry active, in order to recieve software updates, keep track
of program listings, and look for signals to kill the viewing card.

Relatively cheap, though very inaccurate on some loads.

--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | | Ian Stirling.
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Two fish in a tank: one says to the other, "you know how to drive this thing??"