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Turn EHD On/Off with a Lamp Timer?

10 years ago

I schedule a regular backup to an EHD the hooker is it has to be turned on. I always forget.

Can I use a simple lamp timer in the power cord between the PS and the converter? The EHD switch would always be on but power would on/off by the timer. Any harm to the EHD? Seems to me a switch is a switch and it shouldn't matter where it is in the circuit.

Google was useless .....

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Comments (8)

owbist
10 years ago
If your external hard drive has it's own power supply as you note then there should be no reason why that would not work for you.

The only thing I see would be if you live in an area with too many power outages. The computer will automatically reset the time but you will need to adjust your timer if the outage was for a lengthy period.
mikie_gw
10 years ago
Should be ok to use a timer - might give it an ample size time window.

Probably your EHD was designed to spin down and sort of use minimal power until asked to do something. Does it have the us gov Energy Star blue box or embossing on it anywhere ? Timer might use more current than the EHD.

This post was edited by mikie on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 10:19
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owbist
10 years ago
LOL Mickie might indeed be right about the timer using more power.

I just do it manually every 2 to 6 months depending on how busy I may have been. In fact I will do it now, this thread prompted me into action.
kudzu9
10 years ago
Why don't you just always leave the EHD on? If your concern is energy conservation, you are only saving a trivial amount of electricity. On standby, the average EHD several years ago used about 20 kwhr/yr, or maybe $3 per year. Newer EHD's are more energy efficient and may use as little as a dollar's worth of energy per year. And of course, not all of that is waste, at least during the heating season.

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 13:39
DA_Mccoy
10 years ago
I am not so sure the EHD would stay "on" without power. At the moment I cannot think of any electronic device with that would. All those that I think of would need to be re-energized when power was re-introduced; TV, monitor, computer, satellite box. etc.

DA
mxyplx
Original Author
10 years ago
OK. Thanx.

Never thot about the energy consumption - just figured it should be shut down when not used for long periods. Make it last :-) Generally itÃ¢ÂÂs been months between starts. With my new backup zeal (automatic) that would be once a week. Maybe oftener if I get serious.

Its an old SimpleTech 300GB (I think) model 96300-40001-001 maybe 8 or 5 years old. No energy star visible. DC adapter 12v 2a. I just turned it on. The adaptor is running the same temp as my handy dandy DSL modem.

If the noise and light (red) doesnÃ¢ÂÂt bother IÃ¢ÂÂll leave it on. If it does then IÃ¢ÂÂll get a silent timer. Not counting the graft charges I pay $0.14260 per KWH. $0.16835 graft included.
kudzu9
10 years ago
mxyplx-
The one other thought I had -- besides just leaving it on -- is to set a recurring reminder on your computer calendar that will prompt you to turn it on in advance of each scheduled backup. I do this with my Hotmail account for many things that I might otherwise forget to do promptly and it pings me with a message however far in advance I've set it up for.
mxyplx
Original Author
10 years ago
Damn good idea! I did it. Turned the EHG off. Feel better already. Thanx.

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