Nova on standby cost

I’m actually measuring power consumption for some equipment here at home. Nova is on the list; maybe I can move this forward to be next.

1 Like

Yup, you are right, I have the same issue with my NDX2 which does have a USB attached, so it doesn’t go into Network Standby mode. With regard to server mode, I would expect it should still remain under 2W, as that is what the mode is for, to listen out for server requests from other network players

Server mode also keeps the main PSU alive as it’s required in order to make the built in UPnP server discoverable to other devices as well as powering the USB drive from which the files are served.

1 Like

“That would be £4000 per year at current electricity prices”

About the same as it cost to buy the Nova, so I guess that means it’s affordable, right? :wink:

Your right, I was thinking of my SU which doesn’t have a stand-by option.
Maybe I was just dreaming Nova next ?

I have Nova/NAPSC and Oppo UDP 205 on an extension lead.

With the Nova/Oppo in standby consumption of all 3 is around 6W.

The Nova uses an extra 25W when powered up - no difference with or without a USB stick in the front USB socket. Server mode is off.

I re-enabled auto standby mode last week, as otherwise even if unused for 24 hours it is consuming just over 1 kWh - 30p now, nearly 60p in October, who knows next year.

2 Likes

I’m currently at 40p a day, although my Solar panels reduce that. I have however decided that my aim is to reduce energy use on other devices before looking at the HiFi.

It seems solar panels and a large matching battery stock is the investment way to be independant.

Not convinced about batteries in all cases at their current price, but Solar I believe in most cases is a no brainer

1 Like

Short update on my Nova: a quick measuring round (with a “smart switch”; decent but not professional equipment):
0 W when off. (Something must power the LED, but my switch says 0.00 :wink: )
1,5W when in network connected stand-by, with an Ethernet cable plugged in.
24 W when in network connected stand-by, with an additional USB-drive plugged in. (*)
28-38 W while playing internet radio or from the USB-drive, with volume up to 33/100 (66/100, with max=50, actually) - but I guess that’s music, level, and speaker dependent.
During initial boot it took up to 60W, just for anybody interested.

So the same as for Alley_Cat.

Will leave it maybe a bit for more use cases, but don’t actually expect differences in between the straming variants or SPDIF-input. Won’t keep it in place, though.

(*) So now I have the numbers to “it’s warm in standby with USB-connected” and “I don’t want that 24/7”. So in this case the “standby” essentially switches off the display?

1 Like

What is interesting to me is your up to 38W playing audio as my usage is almost certainly different.

I originally got the Nova when my older Naim stuff was in storage, and initially I enjoyed it using Epos ES14s. The plan was for the Nova to be the heart of a second system but things have not transpired in that way, at least not yet!

I later added a NAP 250 to the Nova, which added a little more grip, though somewhat different sonic character.

These days the Nova is serving as a ‘source’ via RCA out to my NAC 282/active SBLs.

Unlike the older all in ones you cannot power down the power section of the Nova - I have no speakers directly connected but am a little surprised to see you are only using maybe 8-10W more than my Nova on playback when I have no speakers directly attached.

Allowing for measuring accuracy with simple uncalibrated meters, this fits with my calculation I just did in another thread

1 Like

I get similar figures to @PhilippVH on my Nova,this was measuring via my smart meter.

2 Likes

I just discovered that an SD card will prevent the Nova from going to sleep in the same way as a USB drive.

My Nova measures around 23W in stand-by, and is always warm when I turn it on in the morning. And no clicks when putting it to sleep. I pulled out the SD-card that I once put in for a test (and never used since) and immediately network sleep mode is working as expected.

Together with switching from a 52W computer server to a 2W raspberry pi and turning off an infrequently used Bluesound Vault of 7W that’s a saving of almost 2kW per day, or close to €600 per year at the current prices.

1 Like

If you attach any storage or enable server mode the streamers do, as you have discovered, keep their main power supply alive. This is so that the contents are discoverable, otherwise there would be a delay every time you turned the unit on while the drive was rescanned, and so that the built in server remains discoverable if used. This is a design choice which some will prefer, and others will not, especially in light of recent hikes in electricity costs.

To avoid this the options are to remove storage when shutting down, or to use Deep Sleep mode instead of Network Standby.

Wow, is electricity that expensive now where you live, €0.82 or so per unit?

Thats completely insane.

From ec.europa.eu:


Nothing anywhere near €0.82 per kwh, though no info on up to date cost. Oddly the UK is missing from the chart, even though other non-EU countries like Turkey are included.

1 Like

Also oddly 4 bars seem to be missing from the chart looking at the gaps. Does a negative “Other taxes” bar mean Government rebates I wonder?

After reading this I checked my Nova and NDX2 and they were both set to server mode when I use a Uniti Core - duh! I’ve always wondered why the Nova was always warm…… We will see what tomorrow brings, I should pay more attention. Maybe there was a post saying leaving server mode enabled for better sound quality and I swallowed the cool-aide.