HOPPER 3 UPGRADES

[dare2be]

I never understood why people got so worked up about this. The only time it should be a concern is if you need to put it in an enclosed cabinet, which they shouldn't be regardless.

Every 50 watts used in an always-on situation would cost about $5/mo in electricity costs (depending on rates), so why shouldn't it be a consideration in your monthly costs just as you would on monthly service fees?

 

[bobvick]

I have kept cooling fans on all my HWSs since day one just to play it safe. View attachment 113338

How did you make that Charles? I keep one of my Hoppers in an enclosed cabinet, but it has w built in cooling fan system and I leave the door cracked.

 

[Scherrman]

Every 50 watts used in an always-on situation would cost about $5/mo in electricity costs (depending on rates), so why shouldn't it be a consideration in your monthly costs just as you would on monthly service fees?

If I'm that frugal to worry about costs like that then I shouldn't have pay TV. I know some people are very careful when it comes to things like that and love knowing that they can save pennies a day and that it adds up to a decent amount by the end of the year but I just don't care. I know I waste money on a lot of things just because I forget about them or I'm too lazy to cancel certain services but there is way more to life than worrying about crap like that.

 

[dare2be]

I just use one of these standing next to the vent on my 722 drawing air out of the box. What's nice about it is the fan speed is adjustable for optimum acoustics.

Amazon product ASIN B00080G0BK

 

[Hall]

Every 50 watts used in an always-on situation would cost about $5/mo in electricity costs (depending on rates), so why shouldn't it be a consideration in your monthly costs just as you would on monthly service fees?

Who has their TV on 24 hours a day ? Oh wait, look at the website I'm asking that at.... My receiver might be on 4-5 hours on a weekday. I'd bet that's fairly typical for normal people too.

 

[stardust3]

Here's a pic of the fan installed in the back of my cabinet. Need to get the dust off that rec...lol.

Amazon product ASIN B009COQYA0

 

[stimpson]

How did you make that Charles? I keep one of my Hoppers in an enclosed cabinet, but it has w built in cooling fan system and I leave the door cracked.

Same here.

 

[Scherrman]

Who has their TV on 24 hours a day ? Oh wait, look at the website I'm asking that at.... My receiver might be on 4-5 hours on a weekday. I'd bet that's fairly typical for normal people too.

You may not have your TV or receiver powered on for watching but they are still in standby mode which would still be drawing some power.

 

[JM42]

For the past 10+ years, my living room receivers have always been in a closed cabinet. Network Switch, Wireless Repeater, Blu-Ray, VCR, HDs, all in the same cabinet, with a couple of vent slots in the back, but no additional fans. Never had a failure at that location.

The two receiver failures I had (722 & 625) with drive failures were units out in the open with plenty of ventilation.

 

[dare2be]

At least on the 722, it has been established that the receiver draws about the same amount of power whether it's in standby or on.

 

[JM42]

You may not have your TV or receiver powered on for watching but they are still in standby mode which would still be drawing some power.

The difference in Standby vs "On" for Dish DVRs is inconsequential. The box is effectively always "on." Just look at the chart posted earlier.

 

[charlesrshell]

I like it!! Care to PM me the parts list and a quick how to????

I ordered cooling fans from a store in ebay. Attached is a spread sheet of my DISH equipment temps. Haven't taken readings since August. To many house duties! LOL. Click on link in page 4.

 

[Almighty1]

Who has their TV on 24 hours a day ? Oh wait, look at the website I'm asking that at.... My receiver might be on 4-5 hours on a weekday. I'd bet that's fairly typical for normal people too.

Having the tv on and having the receiver on are two different things. Even my 65" LG OLED UltraHD 4K TV according to the Energy Cost label is $21/year in energy costs and that consumes 480Watts. My H2K which is 125 Watts according to the back is on 24/7/365 since 11/16/2012 when it was originally installed. It is only off 2 hours a day at the most when it does the nightly updates of software, hopefully they are able to update software without needing to shut the box off with the H3.

I wouldn't worry about the cooling since if the box fails, it's covered by the protection plan anyways.

 

[Hall]

You may not have your TV or receiver powered on for watching but they are still in standby mode which would still be drawing some power.

Some power being the key here. Certainly not 95w or even anything near it. In standby mode, it should use a fraction of that.

Besides, this chart (https://www.mydish.com/support/energy-efficiency) indicates it uses 28w while "on", not 95w, so that's almost 1/4 to start with. Why is it rated at 95w ? Could be during start-up it draws ~2x it's normal power and then has a 2x safety factor on top of that (28 x 2 = 56, 56 x 2 = 112). Anyone notice that newer hardware revisions (NExx vs NDxx) of the Hopper w/Sling use 22% less power ?

 

[Hall]

Having the tv on and having the receiver on are two different things

No, it's not. Generally speaking, if the TV is off, the receiver is off. The only time that's not the case is when there's a recording in process or someone is using a Joey.

 

[dare2be]

I wouldn't worry about the cooling since if the box fails, it's covered by the protection plan anyways.

I worry about the cooling because of the inconvenience of waiting for a replacement and the potential of lost recordings. I also have my DVR on a UPS for the same reason.

 

[JM42]

No, it's not. Generally speaking, if the TV is off, the receiver is off. The only time that's not the case is when there's a recording in process or someone is using a Joey.

The DVR is only "off" if it is unplugged. There is no meaningful difference in the DVR's power usage in standby vs on.

 

[Scherrman]

No, it's not. Generally speaking, if the TV is off, the receiver is off. The only time that's not the case is when there's a recording in process or someone is using a Joey.

I leave my receiver on a lot even though I turn the TV off. I do this when I'm home for lunch every day. This way when I get home after work all I have to do is turn my TV on and hit the rewind button as far as it goes. Now I have an hour of shows I get to skip commercials on.

It helps that TBS has shows on that I want to watch most of the night. I rewind back and watch a couple Friends episodes that were on while I was at work then I watch Seinfeld and then Big Bang Theory. Works great for me.

 

[Scherrman]

My biggest question is, WHO CARES? If the power consumption of your TV and receiver is of that much concern then you probably need to make some major financial choices. I work and make money so that I can have such luxuries at home and not have to worry about what they cost. If I want to watch TV that bad then the price is what it is.

 

[dare2be]

If the power consumption of your TV and receiver is of that much concern then you probably need to make some major financial choices.

No, I don't. And it's not a "concern", it's a consideration.