Re: Dim/Brighten vs On/Off

[Nigel Orr <nigel.orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 02:53 28/02/00 -0800, you wrote:
>>It should make the lights last longer, but will use
>slightly more power.
>>Net cost is probably close to zero...
>
>Thanks for the info, makes me feel better.

I would expect power consumption at idle to be under 1W, so it will use
1kWh (1 unit) per month, roughly.  I don't have firm figures for X-10
though, so either measure it for yourself or ask elsewhere if you have lots
of modules, or need more detail.

A good first-test is how hot the unit gets.  All the wasted energy will be
given off as heat (well, 99.9% anyway, some will probably be sound...), and
most of the heat will come from the module itself (with the rest coming
from the bulb).

Leave it dimmed to zero for a while (A couple of hours), and feel or
measure how hot it is.  Then set it to 'off' for a couple of hours, with
the same ambient temperature, and see how hot it is.  You can even compare
it to one of your 'Moon Rays'- if it doesn't get as warm as them, it's safe
to say it's less than 5W...  you can compare it to flashlight bulbs of
lower wattage and probably get a reasonable idea of how much power is
wasted

This is all fairly unscientific, but will probably give you a feel for what
they are using.  Don't touch any live terminals!

Nigel


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