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Do you consider power/energy usage when selecting a new kit?

It's all skirting around the real issue of over-population and breeding, breeding, breeding, breeding and more breeding. A hifi is inconsequential when humans are knocking out offspring that will consume resources for an average of 80 years for each one.


This is the key issue which no-one ever wants to address, least of all our political leaders, with the notable exception of Deng Xiaoping back in '79. Meanwhile we ship millions of tons of our sh1t to third world countries and pretend we are recycling, and buy gas from just about anywhere and electricity from France and pretend we are going all sustainable, carbon neutral and nuclear free. Are we f**k. The idea that my all valve hi-fi has any measurable impact on any of this is risible.
 
Class A amp, not very efficient. But then it's only on a few hours per week I suppose, which makes it not worth worrying too much about. Our TVs, which probably use less, are on way more - what with kids etc. - and then there's my son's stupid computer, a PC. My Macs are all super efficient, but his beast of a thing puts my amp to shame....

All of this paling further into insignificance when I think of how much the EV charger at the cottage pulls....
 
Computers... Class A amplifier using too much power... What should you have feeling knowing that for young generation playing their videogames, computer will need 1kW or more power supply to feed those insane graphics cards.
 
Computers... Class A amplifier using too much power... What should you have feeling knowing that for young generation playing their videogames, computer will need 1kW or more power supply to feed those insane graphics cards.

There’s a bit of a straw man going on there. The vast majority of ‘young generation’ play games on consoles, which draw nowhere near 1000W. An Xbox Series X or PS5 (ie the latest ones) draw <200W most of the time. And the TVs they’re connected to less than that.

I have a valve amp that uses quite a lot of electric. I also get my electricity from a 100% renewable supplier.

Nonetheless I found myself wanting to use my amp more frequently and for longer periods (eg to run the telly sound through), and considered it irresponsible to use that amp for that purpose, because of the energy usage. So I got myself a SS amp, and will be selling my valve amp soon.

If I used my amp only for music, and only for a more limited amount of time (as I intended when I bought the valve amp), I wouldn’t think it irresponsible to use the valve amp, given my other circumstances. Everything is a matter of trade offs vs utility, it’s about the use case vs appropriate alternatives. If music is your big love, you use a big valve amp and e.g. you barely drive, that’s one thing. If you use 10kw valve mono blocks for a laugh and have a fleet of v8s and 10 kids it’s another thing.

It’s quite possible to be a responsible grown up about this kind of thing, IMO, and Cereal Killer’s question is entirely appropriate in 2021.
 
Nonetheless I found myself wanting to use my amp more frequently and for longer periods (eg to run the telly sound through), and considered it irresponsible to use that amp for that purpose, because of the energy usage. So I got myself a SS amp, and will be selling my valve amp soon.
Long hours on a valve amplifier gets expensive in output valves as well

I live in a hot climate, so I have settled on a cool running class AB with low quiescent current
 
I did an audit in 2007 of the energy various things consumed and I have kept the spreadsheet updated with changes.

My audio and IT kit was then and still is the highest contributor to bills. I do take that into account when buying but I refuse to be inflexible.

Having the audit has allowed me to identify appropriate adjustments over time. For example, just after the audit I bought inexpensive RF mains switches to turn off power where mains sockets and equipment switches were rather inaccessible (e.g. behind furniture). They repaid their cost within two or three months.

My current audio kit consumes more energy than in 2007 but my IT kit consumes less. In total I use about half the energy now than I did then. The "secret" is to be aware and just keep on taking appropriate steps.
 
I really don’t care about power consumption of my hi-fi. My main amp is a powerhouse.
 
Perhaps you grand kids will do that for you one day.
I'm not sure what you actually mean by this statement as we are not 'stealing' energy from future generations.

Humans have gone through various stages of development over time from that very first enormous invention - fire. More recently the Industrial revolution where I think we are nearing its end and will enter the next phase - 'information revolution' maybe?

The thing is we have effectively a limitless supply of energy and that comes from the Sun. Soon (its already began) humanity will harness that energy and drop our reliance on fossil fuels entirely. When that happens the carbon cycle will once again re-assert itself and over time will reduce carbon dioxide levels to pre-industrial levels.

It will be a much nicer place to live provided of course that humanity hasn't wiped itself out by then.

Cheers,

DV
 
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I'd be interested to know if those espousing their 'green hifi' credentials extend this laudable practice to every other area of their lives? Have they abandoned their use of tumble dryers, turned down their central heating thermostat from 21C to 16C, turned off the radiators in rooms that aren't used, replaced all of their strictly necessary white appliances with the latest AAA+++ rated ones, only boil enough water for 1 cup, take 2 minute showers?... I could go on and on, but hopefully my point is clear that in most cases the energy used by one's hifi system is dwarfed by the sum of all other household consumption, so it seems disproportionate IMO to fixate on its running cost. I can see the argument for extreme cases perhaps, such as leaving high-power Class A amplification on 24/7, which you arguably need to have more money than sense to do. However, if we avoid the bell curve extremes, are we really going to make a significant change to our carbon footprint by replacing our Class A/B amp that idles between 50W-100W with a Class D alternative, for the few hours we use it per day? And that's even before you consider the landfill sustainability argument that @Tony L rightly points out. The focus IMO should not only be on energy consumption but also on purchasing products that are built to last and can be repaired.
 
Nonetheless I found myself wanting to use my amp more frequently and for longer periods (eg to run the telly sound through), and considered it irresponsible to use that amp for that purpose, because of the energy usage. So I got myself a SS amp, and will be selling my valve amp soon.

I have different systems in different rooms. The TV system is a passive preamp, Quad 303 and S3/5Rs so costs peanuts to run. A remarkably green amp IMO as it uses so little power and has dodged landfill for over 50 years!
 
I use vitus in class a/b most of time, radio time mainly, and class A when paying attention, usually at night.
Tv is class d Dali sound bar with b&w pv1, uses virtually nothing, sounds fab.
Most green thing we can is keep what we have, like cars, making new kit produces far more carbon than the item will ever do in its lifetime of use.
 
Most green thing we can is keep what we have, like cars, making new kit produces far more carbon than the item will ever do in its lifetime of use.
Quite right. I've also figured that unless there is catastrophic damage (blown engine, major structural rust, etc.) it is also far more economical to maintain a car in good condition than to buy a new equivalent one every few years. Depreciation and market value are meaningless with keepers.
 
Is it just me or is this a ridiculous thread?

If there is a problem, it is not the use of power hungry gadgets but the use of gadgets, period. Hi-Fi is a non-essential luxury item so if you actually care about polar bears the solution is not an energy efficient Hi-Fi but no Hi-Fi at all. If you really cared and believed it mattered you'd get rid of the gadgets instead of pretending you're pure because your gadgets use a little less power than they might.

Me? I leave my system on 24/7, polar bears can swim.
 


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