Do Any Of You leave Your Equipment On?

JSF13

JSF13

New Member
I've read on various sites from time to time that it is better to leave your sytems on all the time rather than turn them on and off everytime you use them. I never have but just wondering about the rest of you. :scratch2:
 
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I think there was some previous posts about that very same subject recently. I think it's just a matter of what you feel comfortable with. :scratch2:
 
I don't but I remember an older man that left a fisher stereo on for 2years straight and it still worked!
 
Why would it not work? There's no mechanical (moving) parts to wear out and unless it was stacked between beaver pelts it would have had adequate ventilation. Once the temperature gets steady small variations won't kill it.
 
Just leave the Rane crossover on all the time. It uses little juice and can make some godawful sounds if the power amps are on when I kill the Rane.

Safer just to leave the crossover always on and cycle the power amps when I'm ready to listen.

For most SS gear leaving on all the time is preferable except that my electricity costs me 23 cents a kW/hr at the margin and the garage gets hot enough as-is. I'd rather save the money and have a cooler garage.

Tubes do degrade as a function of running time plus use even more juice in standby.
 
Not at 12¢ per kWh I don't! I'm not listening to the stereo, off it goes.
Whitehall, if I had to pay 23¢ per, I'd seriously start calculating the cost of candles vs. electricity. That's just obscene.
Tom
 
I leave my two monoblocks on all the time. I dont know how much they draw at idle each but I would imagine its equivalent to at least a 60 watt lightbulb each. The rest of my gear I Usually will turn on in the morning and turn off when i go to bed if its a day Im going to be home.
 
Mine is only turned on only when I am listening to it.

Here is my reasoning-
1. To preserve tube life.
2. Trying to keep the electric bill down.
3. Vintage tube gear, so for safety reasons.
 
Yes, 23 cents a kilowatt-hour at the margin due to progressive rates - the average over the total bill is about 16 cents.

Here in Northern California, we try so hard to be "progressive." That means lots of solar and wind and a coming cap on carbon dioxide emissions. The state won't even let us buy power fueled by coal from out-of-state! Plus "social benefit" programs tacked on the bill.

Of course, our cheapest source of year-round power is our nuclear power plants at 2.5 cent at wholesale.

I noticed that Al Gore only pays 8 cents but his utility is all coal and nuclear.

So yes, I turn my gear off when not in use.
 
It's on when listening and off when away. I don't see the point of leaving it on but maybe there are companies of stuff that recommend it. I don't care to waste my electric bill so I turn everything off. Same respect that I use all florescent bulbs in the house which helped tremendously on the bill it seems.
 
Off when not in use. A friend had a house fire because of a computer left on, I'm not taking any chances.
 
I only buy vintage gear that has never been turned off.

Getting it home can be tricky.

:D
 
For many years I used to tell my customers to leave their equipment on all the time, and just accept that dial lamps would go out more often.

Alas, the last few years our society has become more litigious, and insurance companies more aggressive in disallowing claims.

I believe that leaving your audio system on while you're away from the home makes it impossible for you to put out a fire if one starts in your system. Similarly, if you smell smoking resistors in a power amp or power supply, you can't shut the system down before the problem spreads. For this reason, a claims investigator could reasonably claim that you had created a climate of neglect and in so doing had failed the test of due diligence in mitigating risks.

Compare this to operating certain indoor heaters without a carbon monoxide detector, leaving a skill saw plugged into a long orange power cord in an area where children have access to the saw, etc.

So . . . now I tell my clients to turn their equipment off when they're not at home.

Fred
 
Two out of five computers run 24 hours a day. 80+ degree days cycle the A/C. Electric rates jumped 24% here shortly after the beginning of the year, so now stereo gear goes on when I want to hear music and off when I don't.

If I had my druthers (or a windmill), I'd leave it on all the time.
 
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