The federal government can now set limits on the amount of power that electronic devices such as computers and televisions can draw while they're turned off.

The government was given the power to set those standards in amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act that gained royal assent Thursday, said a news release from Natural Resources Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/15/tech-090515-energy-standards-electronic-devices-standby-power-off.html

I wonder what this will mean for external hard drives and PVRs, which run in the 10-15W range in standby. I doubt the manufacturer is going to release a version just for Canada.

The same is happening in Australia, S Korea, and the European Union.
http://www.powerint.com/en/blog/mrgreen/european-parliament-approves-ecodesign-directives-mandatory-standby-power-consumption-l

Good to know we are not alone. A PVR would have a budget of 2W for standby/resume under that regulation.

Perhaps the 2W limit would mean a new batch of PVR (Green Machines)?

... set standards limiting the amount of power consumed by electronics on standby mode to two to four watts in 2010 and to one to two watts in 2013.
They must be joking. Practically nothing currently on the market will meet the 2010 standard and there is not enough time to develop products that comply. IMHO, 2w-4w is much more realistic for 2013. It will take that much time to develop and market products that comply. The 1w-2w figure is very low but is a nice goal for a later date.

These regulations will kill off the current batch of Bell receivers. They draw as much in "standby" as they do when they are on. It takes about 4 years to design manufacture and deploy a Bell receiver. That's assuming E* will agree to design special energy saving receivers for Bell. We may also see PVRs disappear since they typically draw about 35 watts on standby.

I really don't see how this will happen without major disruption and shortages for Canadians. Canada is less than 1/10 of the North American market. Without the US adopting the same standards as Canada, there will be no incentive for US based companies to develop products that meet these standards. It will also mean new restrictions on Canadians importing products from countries that have not adopted the same standards. As a Canadian, just say goodbye to free trade when it comes to electrical and electronic devices. Also, look forward to massive price increases due to lack of competition and shortages of products that meet the new regulations.

I haven't read the regulations in detail, but I'm guessing that Bell and others would be able to claim that their receivers are not in the typical "standby" mode when the display is switched off. They are downloading guide updates, firmware, and possibly even recording shows.

My guess is that they'll be able to get around the new regulation by saying that only the display function of the receiver is switched off in that mode. "Standby" would be for things like a TV that does absolutely nothing when "off" other than wait for an "on" signal.

For PVRs all they have to do is reprogram the "power" button to switch off the power supply. Sure it will not record but they have just passed the energy test. :-)

I define standby mode as the state assumed when a user presses the off (or on/off) power button on the front panel or remote control and use of the device can quickly be resumed with the panel power button or remote control. A switch that simply breaks the power line and disables all functionality such as quick resumption, displays and remote controls would not qualify, especially if it significantly reduces device functionality, other standby states are available or the device needs to be left on to perform significant background tasks. I know of no devices that achieve a 2-4 watt level in that state. Most are in the 7-15 watt range. I also have to wonder if this applies to computer standby mode or the suspend/hibernate mode. Devices such as TVs, monitors, hard drives, printers and scanners can have several power states, such as standby, suspend, sleep and off, depending on their readiness for resumed use.

For PVRs all they have to do is reprogram the "power" button to switch off the power supply.
I don't think that Bell can get around the PVR issue that easily. It can be argued that they are "in use" when being watched or they are recording or downloading the guide. At all other times it is in standby, must be able to resume and perform recording and maintenance functions without being left on and it must meet the new power regulations.

I know of no devices that achieve a 2-4 watt level in that state. Most are in the 7-15 watt range. I also have to wonder if this applies to computer standby mode or the suspend/hibernate mode. Devices such as TVs, monitors, hard drives, printers and scanners can have several power states, such as standby, suspend, sleep and off, depending on their readiness for resumed use.

Actually, alot of desktops & notebooks already do meet & exceed the requirements. Just pulled the "ECO Declaration" that Lenovo published for my ThinkPad T400, and it even meets the 2013 specs already.
Full load - 90 W
Idle State (Category B) for Energy Star V4 - 19.1 W
Sleep w/ WOL Enable for Energy Star V4 - 1.79 W
Standby (Off Mode) w/ WOL Enable for Energy Star V4 - 0.87 W

Note both the sleep & standby mode are below the 2w limit.

I'm sure that with a little effort new models will be able to meet the targets without impacting functionality / useability.

What will be interesting is how the legislation deals with models that existed prior to 2010? Will the companys have to stop manufacturing those models? Will they be able to sell off existing inventory? What about their rental fleet?

An interesting device to help with the situation:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090519.wgtgreen0519/BNStory/Technology/home

The gadget, called 100%Off, measures the current being used by an appliance during normal operations and during standby, and cuts the power supply to those detected to be in standby mode. Users reactivate the appliance by pressing a green button.

I believe that APC has a UPS that has similar functionality.

More on 100%Off:

http://www.gfy-gfp.com/eng/zero.html

I wonder what this will mean for external hard drives and PVRs, which run in the 10-15W range in standby. I doubt the manufacturer is going to release a version just for Canada.


Anything with EPG, including PVRs will be exempt from the proposed Standby Power Standards.