Notice sometimes my electric meter is spinning pretty fast since I installed the Fios. Can anyone tell me if they saw a significant increase in their electric bill since receving Fios?
Here are a couple of threads that answer your question in more detail, but the short answer is not terribly.
The FiOS Equipment itself is negligable for energy consumption ( Meaning the FiOS ONT/optical network terminal and bbu/battery back up)
The real energy hog is the router, and then the Cable Boxes.But not terribly.
So for example anyone with internet needs a router, so this should be replacing gear and not adding to it, and the same goes for the cable boxes.
One of the links shows 5-10 dollars extra per year for the added energy consumption, so you shouldn't notice anything significant on a monthly basis.
I was just asking the same question b/c our electric usage has DOUBLED since we installed FIOS in April. It went from 1200 KWH per month to over 2300 (and we are not even running heat or AC this time of year in our house). I just called and talked to the FIOS Fiber Solutions Center and was told it is not possible for the FIOS install to have impacted the electricity usage b/c they do not touch the electricity at all during installation.
Maybe the eletric meter just "crapped out" (I hope) about the same time FIOS was installed? It spins like a top at night when the rest of the family is asleep and no lights, TV, etc are on. I will call PPL on Monday morning.
@brownk wrote: I was just asking the same question b/c our electric usage has DOUBLED since we installed FIOS in April. It went from 1200 KWH per month to over 2300 (and we are not even running heat or AC this time of year in our house). I just called and talked to the FIOS Fiber Solutions Center and was told it is not possible for the FIOS install to have impacted the electricity usage b/c they do not touch the electricity at all during installation.Maybe the eletric meter just "crapped out" (I hope) about the same time FIOS was installed? It spins like a top at night when the rest of the family is asleep and no lights, TV, etc are on. I will call PPL on Monday morning.
I think the possibility that the FiOS installation caused this is really very, very small. But to verify that none of the Verizon equipment is involved at all, simply disconnect all of the FiOS equipment from electrical power when TV, internet, and phone are not needed, and take a look at the meter. If it is still running like crazy, you have a serious issue that should be investigated by a qualified electrician (or of course maybe it really is the meter, but an electrician can figure that out quickly).
The only FiOS equipment in your house that would draw any power at all are the ONT via the BBU, each STB, and the router. Just unplug all of them and check the meter. If it is not ok at that point, non-FiOS problem. If it is ok, plug in the ONT and check again, keep plugging in one device at a time in and check, I guess eventually the meter will go crazy and you will know which device is causing the problem.
Since the FiOS electrical usage issue has been raised by several people, I will try to put my Kill-a-Watt meter on each of the devices today or tomorrow and get some measurements for each device. Maybe that will help everyone understand the elctrical usage for current Verizon FiOS components.
Edit: If I can find my Kill-a-Watt, I have two, one for (at?) each house, now to find the one hopefully here....
__________________________________JustinVerizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phoneQIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54Keller, TX 76248
Thanks Justin for the post above.
I did not think that FIOS (installed properly) could cause such a drastic leap in KWH usage or else no one would be using FIOS if it caused a doubling in their electric bill costs. I am just wondering if somehow the technician screwed something up when he installed FIOS and it is "leaking" electricity somehow due to a faulty connection? The Verizon customer support team told me that this is not possible b/c the techs do not interact with the electric connection at all when they install FIOS. I am trying to figure out a way to temporary disconnect the Verizon "circuit box" (that would disconnect the box itself and the internet, phone & cable I assume) and then check the meter to see what impact, if any, this has? However, the box does not have an off switch so I will keep looking at that option to figure it out.
I am calling our electric company on Monday and plan on calling our electrician after that depending on what the electric company says. It is just that this huge SPIKE in usage started exactly when FIOS was installed so my gut just tells me it has to be related somehow to something that was done during that process. I have read that FIOS is likely to cause a small increase in your electric bill (maybe $20-30 per year), but what I am experiencing is way beyond that scope so something is definitely wrong. I will be sure to post the results when I find out the cause so it may help others in the future.
@brownk wrote: Thanks Justin for the post above. I did not think that FIOS (installed properly) could cause such a drastic leap in KWH usage or else no one would be using FIOS if it caused a doubling in their electric bill costs. I am just wondering if somehow the technician screwed something up when he installed FIOS and it is "leaking" electricity somehow due to a faulty connection? The Verizon customer support team told me that this is not possible b/c the techs do not interact with the electric connection at all when they install FIOS. I am trying to figure out a way to temporary disconnect the Verizon "circuit box" (that would disconnect the box itself and the internet, phone & cable I assume) and then check the meter to see what impact, if any, this has? However, the box does not have an off switch so I will keep looking at that option to figure it out.I am calling our electric company on Monday and plan on calling our electrician after that depending on what the electric company says. It is just that this huge SPIKE in usage started exactly when FIOS was installed so my gut just tells me it has to be related somehow to something that was done during that process. I have read that FIOS is likely to cause a small increase in your electric bill (maybe $20-30 per year), but what I am experiencing is way beyond that scope so something is definitely wrong. I will be sure to post the results when I find out the cause so it may help others in the future.
From your posts it appears you are in a single family house, right? The Battery Backup Unit (BBU) provides the power to the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), which is the large box, usually in the basement or garage, that converts between light on the fiber and electrical for the TV, internet, and phone. The BBU is just plugged into a grounded outlet, at least that is the normal way it is done, so all you need to do is pull that plug out of the wall socket and that will eliminate all electrical usage for the ONT. And pull the plug for each of your STBs, if you have any. And finally, pull the plug for the router. That's it, nothing with FiOS will be drawing any power at all, period.
Now if you are in a multi-family environment like a condo or apartment house, the setup is probably different, and it may be much more difficult to isolate the FiOS stuff completely.
Now I suppose, if there was any drilling needed to go through a floor or wall or the ceiling, or if the fiber is buried in your yard, it is I suppose conceivable that some electrical circuit was hit and damaged, and could be leaking electricity. Seems remote to me, but?????
Anyway, I found my Kill-a-Watt, I am measuring the power consumption right now for one of my HD STBs. One of the problems is that the power usage is so low that it takes quite a bit of time to even register. Just a preliminary result for that is $17.34/year whether turned on or off, based on a cost of $0.11/kwh, which may be high or low depending on where you live. On to the DVR a little later, and once I get all of the devices measured I will post a chart that hopefully will give some reasonably good estimates.
Edit: Looking at the links provided by Hubrisnxs, there is good info there that should give a good idea of the expected electrical usage. However, those posts do seem to be 2 or 3 years old, Verizon has introduced new equipment since then, so it is possible that the energy usage has changed, and if so hopefully for the better. I will continue my meansurements to see what mine looks like.
Edit #2: I did a quick search on the various current Motorola STBs and the Actiontec router, and found the following information on energy consumption in the spec sheets:
Motorola QIP7100 P2: 20W (my preliminary measurement on this model is approx. 16W)
Motorola QIP7232: 25W
Actiontec router: 16W
I have not found any specs for the various ONT models yet (the Tellabs website is down for maintenance ), but my guess is that the ONT would draw 30 W or so, maybe less, maybe a little more. So if you add them all together, depending on how many of the various STBs you have, the total power usage is probably in the neighborhood of 100 - 150W. So somewhere around what a 100W bulb draws, 24/7. That is certainly quantifiable and costs something, but is not even remotely in the realm of doubling an electric bill for a house.
I think I am going to give up doing actual measurements, I don't think what I could come up with will really help here.
I beg to differ wih the writer who said electric consumption will not go up much. My National Grid budget was just increased by almost $100 per month. Kilowatt use history shows close to 100% increase July '13 to July ''14. We began Fios serivce around October '13 with 2 set top boxes and switched one to DVR in April '14. There is no other change in our usage. I am thinking about giving up the DVR and switching to another company when our contract with Verizon ends. Providers were supposed to be working on ways to cut energy consumption. I see no progress and hope improvements will be mandated by FCC or whatever agency is responsible.
@edilgen wrote: I beg to differ wih the writer who said electric consumption will not go up much. My National Grid budget was just increased by almost $100 per month. Kilowatt use history shows close to 100% increase July '13 to July ''14. We began Fios serivce around October '13 with 2 set top boxes and switched one to DVR in April '14. There is no other change in our usage. I am thinking about giving up the DVR and switching to another company when our contract with Verizon ends. Providers were supposed to be working on ways to cut energy consumption. I see no progress and hope improvements will be mandated by FCC or whatever agency is responsible.
Go up. Yes of course it will. Up that much, not likely. Maybe 20-30w per device (DVR/stb/router/ont). Note if you don't have the battery connected between your BBU/ONT you can save a few bucks. Say you Have 3 dvr/stb, maybe 100W. 72 KWH. At 20¢ a kwh $14.40. $21 on the high side of power for older boxes, and this assuming the relatively high rate of 20¢/kwh.
