Power use

[Claude Hopper]

I have been cutting power usage in my home. I have saved about 100 kwh a month so far. I put power strips on all the vampire stuff like DVR, TV, Stereo, DVD players, etc.. I shut of light timers and motion detectors. With the fridge off I still get meter spin, though it is very slow. So I shut of the power breaker to the smoke detectors. Meter still spins. Found my electric tooth brush charger on, shut that off, meter still spins. Drill charger in the garage, shut that off, meter still spins. I can't think of anything else. I shut off the Mains 100 amp breaker and guess what? The goddamn meter still spins, though slightly, about 30 seconds a click. So nothing is on and my meter spins, what is it, the meter itself? I'm paying for the power company's meter power? Check your meter by shutting of your main breaker and see if the meter still spins. If I have a defective meter I'd like to know.

[The Daring Dufas]

There should be no meter movement if the main breaker is off. Is the main breaker inside or outside? Is there a breaker box under the meter on the outside?

TDD

[ransley]

You have a short somewhere, I have heard of one costing my neighbor 30 a month. If you have a clamp on amp meter shut down everything one by one, to find small shorts you need an amp meter box store dont sell like a 30$ Greenlee that goes to 0.01a Measure the main ground also, mine is on my water main but dont disconnect it it could be 120v and deadly.

[hallerb]

doorbell transformer is always connected.

pulling power sounds fine till your DVR doesnt get time to download its guide, aND FAILS TO RECORD YOUR SHOWS/

[Nate Nagel]

Irrelevant, it should be on a branch circuit anyway.

Do you have *any* panels besides the one you turned off the main on? Like for a water heater, heat pump, etc?

nate

[Claude Hopper]

Don't have a doorbell transformer.

[Claude Hopper]

I'm not concerned about DVR download. I power it on before I need to record and it has time to download.

[Claude Hopper]

None, everything is off the main panel.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I have something set to record at 3:00 AM. Others record when I'm away. Not only would I miss those, it would also lose the programming guide every time power goes out. I'm willing to shut down some stuff, but the DVR stays.

[ransley]

Whats on at 3am

[gfretwell]

Cable movies and repeats of what was on in prime time on most cable channels. If you only watch networks I see your confusion.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Whats on at 3am

A re-showing of a show on Food Network. They repeat most shows a couple of times a day

[hallerb]

Our home didnt have a doorbell anymore, but one day I stumbled onto the transformer, and after looking at neighbors home found the wiring and reconnected it.

Any chjance you have a surge suppressor?

[Claude Hopper]

No surge suppressors, no door bells. I can't believe somebody would hook up a door bell BEFORE the main breaker right off the lead in cable.

[Mark Lloyd]

How, with the main breaker off?

[Mark Lloyd]

Nearly all of my automatic recordings can occur at any time on any channel.

[Mark Lloyd]

Anything can be. I don't understand why most people with DVR's continue to use them manually like VCRs. Automatic recording (not limited by time or channel) it the main reason I have a DVR.

[gfretwell]

I'm not sure all DVRs are as good as RTV about this

[Mark Lloyd]

No, but a lot are close. TiVo calls the feature "wish list".