I've had one in service for at least a decade. It's outlasted several of the button/transmitter units. And a second (upstairs) for 3-4 years. The nameplate current is 50ma (which would be 6W) on one, and about twice that on the other, but I think that must be when actually making noise, as I couldn't measure *any* current drain.
Dave
I'm no EE, but I would guess that most of the in-house interference is back down along the power lines, not through the air. I know that on the baby shortwave I use to AM-band DX myself to sleep at night, when some unknown something in my house (or one of the neighbor's houses on the same pole can) is running, I can't get S**t to come in. But if I unplug the wall wart and run on batteries it comes in fine, as long as the unplugged cord is over a foot from the radio. Intermittent as hell, and annoying.
-- aem sends...
Eek! My electric bill is around $40-45 total for my house, and I've got an old refrigerator and several computers that run 24/7. But gas heat.
Dave
If the Guberment says so it must be so. I just don't believe it.
Several electric utilities say so. It can also come from microarcs in transformers on poles. When they get a complaint, they check poles with an ultrasound detector to pick up noise from an arc.
When a doorbell transformer fails, I imagine it's usually an open primary. When it first opens, I imagine the vibration of the transformer could keep the break arcing indefinitely.
Do you know what voltage most (USA) doorbells operate on?
TDD
twenty volts or under, while thermostat transformers are typically twenty four volts.
I believe I asked Jeff. Do you know what your name is?
TDD
in message
EMF pulse, you worry too much.
Doorbell transformers are highly reliable only had one fail in my lifetime.
I was about 10 when it got noisey and warm so i replaced it. want to walk thru our former home someday, wonder if its still in use.
it got noisey and pretty warm, a fond memory of a big fix at the time
So what? I lose more money each year in coins that have fallen between the seats in my car.
Save the planet? Hardly. If everyone on the grid turned-off their doorbell transformer, it wouldn't make ANY difference - not ONE iota - in climate change. None. Zippo.
So what? Hang one - ONE - load of laundry on a line to dry instead of using the clothes dryer and you've compensated for a LIFETIME of such minor energy usage.
You need to get a job or a life - or both.
You could have saved yourself a lot of time, effort and money by simply turning-off the transformer and removing the doorbell button. Let 'em KNOCK.
[Shaking my head, walking away and muttering] Unbelievable.
Can you get doorbell buttons with LEDs?
[snip]
You didn't ask Jeff personally. Had you done so, it would have been an email, instead you asked a general question on Usenet, and someone was nice enough to reply with good information. And, yes, we know what your name is: "Asshole".
That pulse can pack a pretty good hit, want to try something, flash a 9 volt batt on the low voltage side of a doorbell transformer, and feel what you get on the other side. that pulse can back feed through the house wiring, and posiblilty zap something else. Thats all I was worried about.
EMF pulse, you worry too much.
Doorbell transformers are highly reliable only had one fail in my lifetime.
I was about 10 when it got noisey and warm so i replaced it. want to walk thru our former home someday, wonder if its still in use.
it got noisey and pretty warm, a fond memory of a big fix at the time
It is great to see someone actually measured the watt draw then did the math for the houses in this country. Our houses have so many small loads in them that we need to get busy and decrease them. No I=92m not recommending making them unsafe, just efficient.
Here is some information from the California Energy Comission
So the concept of reducing the bill is great, let=92s do it SAFE. We all need to question the power consumption on and off of anything we buy. If the sales person cannot provide us with the rated consumption we should tell them no thanks. When sales drops enough the companies will start providing the info.
Some may say it will hurt our economy. Just look at what being inefficient has done for us. Sending nearly 1 Trillion dollars out of our country every year, being spent on a product that has a finite supply and spews pollution into our precious atmosphere, causing health issues we do not even know about yet. The possibility of climate change (for those who still do not believe, I do). The cost of these things are un-totaled and likely far exceed the cost of the fuel.
Think Whole House Performance, it=92s the right thing to do.
Andy
I didn't ask you either. You obviously missed the point of the question, it was a little dig. I did not ask the general either. *snicker*
TDD
Yes.
Nope, that cant produce electrical interference.
Not that last bit of yours they dont.
complaint, they check poles with an
Different effect entirely.
Yes, because thats the thinnest wire.
Nope, you wont get vibration if its got an open primary.
You dont even have enough current to maintain the arc. Completely different to pole transformers.
I used to do that with a AA cell and a transformer made to energize two conductors of a telephone cable to light a dial. Occasionally I found an unsuspecting person to hold the plug.
I also used to enjoy putting my tongue on the terminals of a 9 volt battery.
The doorbell might absorb some of the pulse, but not as well as a resistive load. I agree that if you didn't get shocked pressing the button, you might get shocked releasing it.
There's always something new to learn....
When I asked for a cite I was thinking only of properly operating doorbell equipment.
I located this FCC cite:
It sayss there's a thermostatic overload inside (some?) doorbell xformers designed to protect them from overheating and starting a fire if the doorbell button sticks on - or there's a short in the secondary side wiring.
The report says that those thermal overloads (which I expect break the
120 volt primary circuit.) cycle off and back on around once every seven seconds and that the inductive spark at its contacts can propogate through house wiring and cause flashes of interference on a tv or "static clicks" in radios.Who woulda thunk it?
I wonder how long that cycling mode would continue before those thermal overload contacts got burned enough to stop connecting and leave an open circuit there.
That's the second time I've made a mistake this year...Thank G_d it's almost December.
Jeff
I've got 3 different ones floating around - 12, 16, and 24 volts AC. (They would work just as well on lower voltage DC)
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