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I currently have a Cable modem (with VOIP) which my Dlink DI-614+ (revB) plugs into.

Into the Dlink I have my network printer, and my Vonage DLink VOIP box connected.

I would love to consolidate down the Cable modem/router/VOIP into fewer devices, as that is 3 power bricks running all the time, drawing power. Switching power supplies do not help, since they are always on and drawing power.

My goal is to save power here, and I was wondering if anyone has seen any combo devices that would work?

I noticed that Verizon FIOS around here delivers one box, that is FIOS device, router with ether jacks, wireless, and has their VOIP service on it. So that would get me down to one device (except I still would use my Vonage separate I think) but that would mean switching to Verizon which I am hesitant to do at this time.

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You do realize that even if you save 10W of power year round, that only adds up to around $8.70 (10W * 24 * 365 = 87KWh, around 10¢/KWh = $8.70), so you're looking at a payback period longer than the expected lifespan of the device?

Also, once you consider the environmental impact of manufacturing that new device (and disposing of your old devices), I doubt it'd be a net environmental positive.

You may want to obtain a Kill-o-Watt (there are other models too) to find out where you can actually save some power. I'd start with the cable TV set-top box (if any) to find a phantom load, I've seen ones that use >100W when "off".

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  • Meh! Party pooper! It just offends me to have these heat generating devices sucking power all day long. Do you really think it is only 10W between say three power bricks, instead of two?
    – geoffc
    Commented Jul 15, 2009 at 19:19
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    Depends on the device, but considering its doing the same functions, I doubt its going to be much power. Example, I have a 5 port gigabit switch with a power spec of 5W max.
    – derobert
    Commented Jul 15, 2009 at 19:31
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    Investing $30 in a Kill-A-Watt and finding out the actual expense would be a good start.
    – STW
    Commented Aug 11, 2009 at 20:43
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I agree the net effect of new device will most likely be negative anyway in all respects, but it may be interesting to note it is not only the the power consumed by the devices, you need to consider power supplies as well (namely their efficiency). For various power supplies I have met my estimation (based on how warm the are) would be most of them produce about 5-10 W, but some of them perhaps even 30-50 W.

Anyway this is estimation only, Kill-O-Watt or other power measurement tools should show you much this really is. As such tool can be used to measure consumption of any electrical appliances you may have, buying it (or borrowing it) sounds like a good idea.

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  • Although I phrased the question in the form of power consumption, it was the waste in running multiple 120V to 12V or 5V transformers that annoys me the most, as it just burns electricity into heat along the way.
    – geoffc
    Commented Oct 2, 2009 at 2:35

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