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Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:20 pm
by Promise One
Jesus. I just got an electricity bill for £370 for the last 3 months. Fucking right expensive having a home studio, anyone else face this problem of power hungry studio gear?
I know my main power drainers are:
The kettle (too many cups of tea)
The monitors:
2x Mackie HR624
1x Tapco 10" Sub
Fuck. What's a man suppose to do, write beats on some crap small pc speakers that don't drain as much power without drinking tea either?

Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:27 pm
by RmoniK
holy fuck dude that's impossible. Do you leave 'em on day and night or what?
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:38 pm
by Promise One
RmoniK wrote:holy fuck dude that's impossible. Do you leave 'em on day and night or what?
No man I turn them off when I'm not using them, sometimes my house mate leaves them on all night accidentally but only like a couple of times over the last few months. I always go mental at him as I'm aware I need to watch what I'm using, as its me paying the bills. I think it must be this new sub I got. When you think of it that's 3 separate amps/plugs running just monitors. Urg god might have to chuck the kettle out of the window and write tunes on headphones only then mix on monitors.
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:02 pm
by dj nation
holy shit man, thats steep, n dont throw the kettle out man, thats like my most important piece of equipment,,,i really hate makin them tho, just long procedures
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:04 pm
by Promise One
dj nation wrote:holy shit man, thats steep, n dont throw the kettle out man, thats like my most important piece of equipment,,,i really hate makin them tho, just long procedures
haha I lost it and cut the plug off the kettle. Bad move. 10 mins later I'm wiring it back on. As stated earlier "write beats on some crap small pc speakers that don't drain as much power" yes I've unplugged the proper monitors and I'm using some Sony PC speakers with a sub. The idea being I write on these, once I think a track is finished and good enough it gets moved onto mixing with the big boys. Once I get use to it shouldn't be so bad. Probably be better for my hearing too as I can't drive these loud loud. The kettle is a good break, a chance to review your work and stretch, speaking of which, could use a brew right now....
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:18 pm
by alphacat
Yikes - you might as well be growing a shitload of weed with that kinda power consumption...
2 suggestions:
1) Get a "Kill A Watt™" current checker or
one of the many other brands that make 'em... this way you know for sure what around the house is drawing how much current and with how much stability.
2) They're not a cheap initial investment but they absolutely pay for themselves over time:
solar panels.
No, seriously.
In the States some people actually sell their surplus solar electricity back to the utility companies.
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:24 pm
by dj nation
Promise One wrote:dj nation wrote:holy shit man, thats steep, n dont throw the kettle out man, thats like my most important piece of equipment,,,i really hate makin them tho, just long procedures
The kettle is a good break, a chance to review your work and stretch, speaking of which, could use a brew right now....
never thought of it like that, im always trying to get back to the comp as quick as really, and as if u just snipped your kettle, i cud never do that lol, even though i hate my kettle n its the worse ever, like leeks boiling hot water when your trying to poor it, still does the job though
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:47 am
by JFK
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:28 am
by macc
£370 for three months?!
Something isn't right there man, surely - I pay ~£100 for two months and that includes heating stuff, as well as heavy duty amplification for massive speakers and a shedload of tube gear that's on for 8 hours a day every day.
And I drink a looooooooot of tea

Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:31 am
by pete_bubonic
Yeah like macc says that is extortionate! I got my studio with amps, mixing desk, computer screens etc. As well as my hdtv and xbox and my bloody girlfriend. And it aint ever that much!
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:53 am
by amphibian
Promise One wrote:Jesus. I just got an electricity bill for £370 for the last 3 months. Fucking right expensive having a home studio, anyone else face this problem of power hungry studio gear?
I know my main power drainers are:
The kettle (too many cups of tea)
The monitors:
2x Mackie HR624
1x Tapco 10" Sub
Fuck. What's a man suppose to do, write beats on some crap small pc speakers that don't drain as much power without drinking tea either?

I don't know how the hell you do that. All my shit gets turned off all the time - and monitors only pull as much power as they need. If you have your speakers loud, it will pull a lot more than if you keep them low.
Secondly - speakers don't use THAT much power, in comparison with computers.
Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:23 pm
by RmoniK
I think your neighbour is using your electricity

Re: Home Studio - Electric Bill
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 3:11 pm
by KnightsOfTheRound
To be fair...some of us have no choice but to mix on shitty computer speakers hahahaha