How Much Electricity Does Your Home Sound System Typically Use?
How to think about and measure the energy use of your home sound system.
Grassetto/Getty Images
As energy costs continue to spiral, cost-conscious consumers need to manage their energy consumption. While electricity requirements vary, a typical home sound system will use 20 to 50 watts in standby mode, increasing to 200 watts at maximum volume. But many setups aren't typical, so how do you assess your own?
Basic audio components such as turntables and CD players draw minimal power, but there's a direct connection between playback volume and energy consumption; the louder you go, the more energy it requires. Audiophiles using esoteric combinations of state-of-the-art equipment and vintage analog tech (particularly amplifiers) may find their system costs more to run. Similarly, independently powered speakers inherently use more energy than those drawing power directly from the amp, and large home theatre systems tend to consume even more energy.
It's also true...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.engadget.com. To see the full text click HERE
