What about this?I agree with this, I just don't want to stray from topic. All of that stuff needs to be always on. I have a platinum Corsair PSU and have all the CPU power optimisations on, so when it's idling it's not drawing much. And my Ugreen power adapter that's powering all the aforementioned stuff via USB-C adaptors has very efficient AC-DC.
Overall, my personal carbon footprint is very low, I'm probably in the 10th percentile or lower for the UK, I spend only around £600/year on electricity at 35p/kWh (used to be £250 or so), and I use 100% electric public transit and don't have a car.
Yes, see my post above, it's a 10.1W constant load in bridge mode.
I think you're right that it's not worth it. Alternatively, as I get notified if my WAN ever goes down (which I can't remember the last time it happened), I can just keep the BT Hub off and if I get a notification, then I can manually power it on within a couple of hours at most, which would be... acceptable here. Unless I'm sleeping, then it may be longer. And if I'm traveling I will just power it on before I leave.
I was looking for a more elegant solution, but I could just do that, or just pay the £30/year, I mean the amount of time I've spent thinking about this is already worth more than £30 to me haha. Next year it'll probably cost £15-20.
What about this?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Tapo-Wireless-Control-Required/dp/B07Z942YWS/
Works via local wifi. The only problem I see is that if your main connection is down then Tailscale it's not going to work. You need to find one that you can control via a local API so that you can trigger the On event locally.
I just checked: the Draytek Vigor 130 is more expensive than it used to be, but still around £99 brand new, or less than half that if you pick up from eBay. (And it's only a modem, no routing capability)Exactly, and the router costs £190 haha.
I'd put money on the UPS and anything hanging off it being 1/3 - 1/2 of your usage depending on the type of UPS.pfSense has only ever been measured by my UPS on its own,
On a somewhat separate note, if the VDSL2 connection is never used, will BT contact the owner to ask them why they're not using it, would be good to know.
That's an excellent shout!I'd put money on the UPS and anything hanging off it being 1/3 - 1/2 of your usage depending on the type of UPS.
if its a similar to an "APC SMART" UPS - these can go from like +95% efficient to pretty dire- especially if the battery isn't in the best shape as they try and get to float voltage too stubbornly and may never get there.. an "always on the inverter" UPS (unlikely to be one you're using at home) are pretty consistently naff but are much better units.
Home Assistant/RasberryPi4 4Gb logging 35 Shelly 1PM energy monitors (primarily, but also temperature, particle monitors, humidity etc) pulls on average 2.5 WattsIf anyone goes the home assistant route. Athom (https://www.athom.tech/) sell devices running Tasmota / ESPHome - so all local control, no cloud and no cloud accounts, saves faffing buying the "real" device and doing some gymnastics to flash it.
With either Shelly or Tasmota firmware they are low cost and work well & are very easy to integrate into a Home Assistant type setupShelly make good quality products with local control baked in
My biggest win (from a satisfaction point of view not power saved) was identifying a very expensive Miele Little Giant washing machine sucked 10 to 15 W constant depending on whether the screen was on or not, and the screen had a PIR sensor integrated which meant it was on more often than not.Oh the other thing to check that's common for vampire drain / phantom usage is if you have a burglar alarm - Disconnecting the battery (and silencing the alarm) you may find the usage drops significantly. When I moved into here, the alarm was using 60~80w (yes..!) trying to charge a dead, swollen battery. The charging transformer had left a beautiful scorch mark not only in the alarm casing, but up the plaster itself and out of every hold in the casing.
When I moved here the previous owner was a little old lady who lived on her own and it's clear trades (or her previous partners "wonderful"DIY) had been taking the proverbial.
I bought a (cheap copy) thermal camera from Amazon, and wandered round the house looking for hot spots on equipment (and cold spots, the insulation in this house sucks balls, work had been done in the loft and insulation not put back adequately etc.) to see what things I needed to improve, and what was costing me money, where draughts were coming from, sources for cold walls, etc.
Would highly recommend![]()
I just checked: the Draytek Vigor 130 is more expensive than it used to be, but still around £99 brand new, or less than half that if you pick up from eBay. (And it's only a modem, no routing capability)
Uhh, why? wouldn't make business sense to call your customers and ask if they want to stop paying you.
I think that's roughly what I sold mine for on E-bay. No, there's just one model. There are firmware updates available, although annoyingly you have to register with the draytek site to get them.Used ones on Ebay literally go for £30-40 or less. Is there a reason for that, is there an older version of the Vigor 130 that is worse/cheaper?
Ping me a private message, I've got an unused Vigor 130 I can let you have cheap + cost of postage if you're interested. Looks in perfect condition, just need to locate the power supply. (the box says Firmware 3.8.1.2 but I'm positive it has been updated at least) I'll keep the box as it's huge compared to the modemOhh when you first brought it up I just checked Amazon where it's £198 but that's probably from a super overpriced 3rd party seller. Used ones on Ebay literally go for £30-40 or less. Is there a reason for that, is there an older version of the Vigor 130 that is worse/cheaper?
You know what, if it reduces power consumption to 5W, for under £40 it would be worth it, plus it's a better modem than the BT Hub, that I know can also handle bufferbloat well, which the BT VDSL2 has especially on the upload - literally up to 1000ms when it's maxed out. I'm currently managing it with a bandwidth limitation, but I think the Draytek would handle it better.
Right, but they also want a satisfied customer who is more likely to stick with them. Amazon often sends me emails or mail to remind me that I can use Prime Video, which I never watch. But I don't know, you can make an argument either way.
This isn't really a "hey you're paying for this, and you're not using it!" it's an attempt to make sure you're fully engrained in their product. Embedded with Prime Video, Prime Music, Amazon "priority" delivery, "Prime Day" - and all the bluster around paying them £100+/year. It's product / vendor lock-in, in disguise.or mail to remind me that I can use Prime Video, which I never watch.
Top banana! nice one for providing the option.Ping me a private message, I've got an unused Vigor 130 I can let you have cheap + cost of postage
This isn't really a "hey you're paying for this, and you're not using it!" it's an attempt to make sure you're fully engrained in their product. Embedded with Prime Video, Prime Music, Amazon "priority" delivery, "Prime Day" - and all the bluster around paying them £100+/year. It's product / vendor lock-in, in disguise.
Ping me a private message, I've got an unused Vigor 130 I can let you have cheap + cost of postage if you're interested. Looks in perfect condition, just need to locate the power supply. (the box says Firmware 3.8.1.2 but I'm positive it has been updated at least) I'll keep the box as it's huge compared to the modem
Update: Latest firmware is 3.8.5.1, no registration required, download straight from the Draytek site
View attachment 8090![]()
Seems the PC/server industry needs to get things in order, computer power supplies can also have woeful efficiency even the expensive ones, it nosedives when utilisation is below a certain point.
niceI have already tested with everything off at fusebox except sockets, so its nothing external to sockets.
No worries and congratulations on scoring a V130 for a good price.Thanks again for the offer @HairyLeg, sorry I saw your post too late.