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Why should Al Gore get all the credit for saving the planet? In a preview of what’s sure to be a flood of feel-good news surrounding Earth day next month, Microsoft (MSFT) and the National Resources Defense Council are declaring that Vista’s “innovative energy-saving solutions…could shave $500 million off the nation’s energy bill and eliminate 3 million tons of global warming pollution.” That’s enough to offset 380,000 cars, or even a full year of Mauritania’s carbon dioxide emissions (about 3.1 million tons). Obviously, that savings presupposes a certain installed base. But still, Microsoft and its engineers should be lauded for the hard work that undoubtedly went into re-architecting Windows all in the name of energy efficiency, right? Nope. Actually, they just increased the prominence of the sleep function. “In the past, a user had several options - sleep, hibernate, off, standby - and no one knew the difference,” says NRDC senior scientist Noah Horowitz. “Now you just make one click, or hit the half-moon button on the keyboard, and the system goes to sleep.” Horowitz says that when it comes to portable electronics - cell phones, laptops, etc - manufacturers have paid a good deal of attention to power management because those devices work on batteries. But some desktop computers and TVs remain incredibly inefficient. All-told, consumer electronics account for as much as 15% of a home’s energy use per year, according to the NRDC. “If the thing is plugged in, manufacturers act like [energy consumption is] not their problem,” Horowitz says. “Some large screen TVs use as much energy as a new refrigerator.” Of particular concern is the rise of DVRs, which are becoming standard issue with cable systems. “They’re the insomniac in people’s homes,” Horowitz says. “They’re still drawing 30-40 watts at 2 a.m. With better design, they could go to sleep and wake up when it’s time to record.” Seems like a simple enough problem to fix. If my cell phone can draw minimal power in standby mode, there seems to be little reason why my Tivo has to keep pulling down the kilowatts. Come on, Tivo (TIVO). You’ve got a month until earth day. How about a sleep function and a feel-good press release? Posted by jeffobrien 3:09 pm 25 Comments
 | Add a comment I have a tivo competitor. An ILO dvdhdr04 mfd by Lite-On. I measured the power consumption. 1 watt when ‘off’, 22 watts when on and 26 watts when copying a recording from the internal hard drive to the built in dvd burner. And it doesn’t require a monthly fee to use. Posted By Rick, Iowa City, Ia : April 3, 2007 4:45 pm
dm, shutting your computer down and restarting it does NOT use more power than leaving it on. Whoever told you that needs to take some introductory computer classes. It is an idiotic urban legend on the Internet. If you are actually curious how much devices are wasting, go get a small (cheap) device called Kill-A-Watt. It measures precisely how much power an outlet is drawing. Then try out your urban legend. Posted By Tampa, FL : March 23, 2007 10:15 pm
The Replay TV doesn’t go to sleep on it’s own (after all - it can’t discern if you’re using it to just watch live TV or not). But if you turn it off after you’re done watching - it’ll wake up to record - and then fall asleep when done. Posted By Don, Asheville NC : March 22, 2007 4:21 pm
Yes Tivo has a standy mode, but all it does is stop video signals. The disk drive still is on. It still records the video in case you want to backtrack live TV that you were not wathcing. Everything is still on. Posted By Robert J, Whitehouse Station, NJ : March 22, 2007 4:17 pm
I just got my refund this morning from Amazon for a Vista HP computer that I had to return. Microsoft decided not to support the Borland Database Engine. My contact manager Goldmine no longer works with Microsoft. 2 million users are now out of luck. Posted By Alfred Davis, Fairfield, IA : March 22, 2007 1:19 pm
Good short article showing energy test results on the TiVo box in “on” and “standby” modes. It does back up the article’s claims. Link to TiVo power analysis article. Posted By B, Pasadena CA : March 22, 2007 11:13 am
My DVR running BeyondTV on XP Pro sleeps when not in use and wakes up when it is time to record or download updates. The steadily increasing hardware requirements for Microsoft’s OS releases, on the other hand, only increase energy usage over the long term. Posted By Andrew, Missouri City, TX : March 22, 2007 9:56 am
 I’ve heard shutting your computer down and turning it on can actually use more energy than just keeping it on in sleep mode (depending on how long it would be in sleep and how efficient the sleep mode is). Posted By dm : March 22, 2007 9:42 am
The standby mode option is on one of the most frequently used menu screens on a TiVo. Posted By Curtis Anderson Burleson, TX : March 22, 2007 8:58 am
A comment to Leo of Redmond. In actuality, thepower industry,computer hardware,chip makers AND software makers are responsible for the Posted By Jon, Center Lovell, ME : March 22, 2007 7:49 am
Because you can’t find the standby mode Tivo has a faulty product design and Tivo users are blind? Wow! Posted By Jeff, Atlanta, GA : March 22, 2007 7:39 am
Standby and SLEEP are not the same thing for those who’ve commented already. The standby function still uses a good amount of power just like the same on stereo receivers. That’s why I turn my receiver to full OFF and not just standby when I’m not using it. What Tivo needs is an actual sleep function that uses less power than standby, but lets the system turn itself on for timer recordings and so on. Posted By PDN, Newark, NY : March 22, 2007 7:33 am
I knew all along that Microsoft only wants to help the planet and that the rumors of it’s plans for world domination were completely unfounded. I love Big Brother. Posted By Peter Hooper, Greensboro, NC : March 22, 2007 7:27 am
 Wow, that’s really dumb. Just turn off the PC when you’re not using it for god’s sake. $10 says we see a “nap” button in service pack 2 for vista. “Instead of making the computer sleep, or hibernate we’re giving him the option to just take a short nap.” I can see it now. I want the last 3 minutes of my life back. Great article. Posted By bryan : March 22, 2007 3:35 am
TiVo’s standby mode is not what you think. It does not reduce power consumption. It really only stops the TiVo from sending a signal to your television. The hard drive continues to spin, the fan continues to run, etc. It stops writing to the hard drive, but the difference in power consumption is like 1-2 watts, I’ve read. Posted By Andy, San Diego, CA : March 22, 2007 1:18 am
 How about turning off the computer when not using it? Wouldn’t that be the best way to conserve energy? Posted By Brent : March 21, 2007 11:51 pm
Putting your Tivo in “standby” mode does not stop it from drawing 30-40 watts. My Tivo records continuously whether awake or asleep. Posted By Alan, San Francisco, CA : March 21, 2007 5:35 pm
Vista needs a vastly more powerful computer to run well… this equals more energy which negates the claims of this article. Besides Vista is MSFTs worst failure since Windows ME Posted By Jeff Daniels, Boston, MA : March 21, 2007 5:32 pm
TV Sets should dim their screens when commercials are playing. Bet that’d save a ton of energy. Posted By Trent, Manchester, NH : March 21, 2007 4:18 pm
What a load of crap! Big MS trying to hop on the “Save the Earth” bandwagon. Low power/sleep modes in OS’s have been around for decades and Vista’s is nothing new. What is maddening is that with Vista you have to spend hours trying to fix it and make it run right, re-installing it several times, buying new software, and then fixing that again, buying a new computer and repeating the whole damn process, thereby actually increasing and adding to the waste of energy. Lets not fail to mention the discarded old computer that won’t run Vista and contributes to pollution. Posted By Blotto, Los Angeles, California : March 21, 2007 4:14 pm
 a tivo’s standby mode is like the knob to adjust the water flow on your toilet. it’s there, but a pain in the arse to find and almost nobody bothers to look. i get it, you just **love** your tivo. but don’t let that blind you to faulty product design. Posted By jeffobrien : March 21, 2007 4:06 pm
My TiVo has a standby mode. The unit goes to sleep until it’s time to record a program. More great research from Fortune. Posted By Curtis Anderson Burleson, TX : March 21, 2007 3:49 pm
Tivo has a standby mode, has for years. Posted By Steve, Ocala, FL : March 21, 2007 3:46 pm
The poor designs of the previous versions of Windows have wasted so much energy around the world for decades. Vista is just now “reducing” the rate of pollution. We don’t praise a thief becasue he “steal less”. Posted By Leo, Redmond, WA : March 21, 2007 3:39 pm
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There is a great product everyone should own who has any interest in how much power they use. “KILL A WATT” is a simple plug in power meter that measures power(watts), voltage AND cumulative power (kwh) for appliances that turn on/off over time. $30 or so. It is slick. I recommend it for anyone who wants to know what their electrical devices are using.