Does keeping the hi-fi woofer "ON" 24hrs a day consume power?

Question

Does keeping the hi-fi woofer "ON" 24hrs a day consume power? But it is ONLY the woofer that is ON, the main control unit is OFF and the system is not being used.

Does it means only when the whole system is ON (ie playing music) then it consumes power?

Note my woofer is 350W. and the dealer recommend me to keep it on all the time. I only "ON" the main player unit when i listen to music.
I worry that keeping the 350W woofer ON all the time will consume power and lots of $$$!!!

Answer 1

Contrary to the poster above me, not all appliances are always "on" when they are plugged in. If the switch on the appliance creates an "open" circuit then no current will flow from the wall thereby not using any power.

A different example may be a coffee maker that has a time display which is always on, it will consume a very tiny amount of power while plugged in and shouldn't be worried about.

Your woofer is 350W maximum power output. This means that if you play a movie or music VERY VERY loud you might hit 350W power usage for a very short amount of time(keep in mind there is some effiency loss so you will be using slightly more power from the wall).

However, when there is nothing playing through the speaker system the switching amplifier of your woofer consumes typically very little power. Sometimes this is given in the manual for the woofer.

It is entirely up to you if you turn it off or keep it on. Some woofers will have an "Auto-on" mode which will switch the unit on when a input signal is sensed. This is easier than turning the unit on and off each time, however, you may notice a slight delay in the woofer turning on causing it to miss a note or two when it first senses the input signal. Typically it will stay on for 15 minutes or so without any input before then turning off again.

Answer 2

In theory the device will not consumer current. The device you indicate is a LFE connected Sub Woofer. If the switching mechanism is solid state and not mechanical it could consume current only if there is a imbalance and it would amount to less that 1 watt over ten years.

Nothing worth measuring and that is only if a triac or SBS were improperly receiving gate trigger current thru inductive reactance and partially turning on.

Make sure to use good interconnects and you won't have this problem.

Answer 3

Hi.Unless you are actually using it to reproduce sound it won't use very much power.Actually by leaving it on all the time the internal amp.will be slightly warm and will perform better than switching it on cold.That is why most amplifiers have a standby mode.A small residual current is keeping the components slightly warm .And it is a fact that hi fi equipment sounds better after 2 or 3 hours from switch on.When i am going to have a listening session.I power up all the equipment about 3 hours before and the music does sound sweeter this way.
Hope this helps.

Answer 4

It should drop down to a stand-by mode when the rest of the system is off. My Boston Acoustics sub does that, and there is a little LED on the back that goes from green to red when it is in stand-by. In that mode it shoud not consume much power at all.

Answer 5

Everything in your house, that is plugged in, consumes power. Whether or not its "on" doesn't matter. If the toaster is plugged in, it is sucking power out of the socket. It's a small amount, but will add up over time. One of the things I've read on how to protect our planet from global warming, is unplug appliances that aren't being used.