I'd like to start first by pointing out that this is a perfect case of where one should not believe everything they read, especially on the internet. DSLR is indeed a generally trusted forum with a large number of very helpful participants, however this does not imply that everything posted there should be taken as gospel.
I would extend this note further to my posting here - there is absolutely no reason anyone should blindly take my word as-is without doing their own research to confirm or refute this information.
The first thing I did when I saw the referenced post about the Actiontec MI424WR consuming 60 watts (which I thought was absurd) was to check the router and its powersupply for ratings. The power brick on my Rev D is rated for an output of a whopping 15 watts. That is only a quarter of what the DSLR post notes, and if the router did in fact try to consume 60 watts the power brick likely would not survive.
Next, I plugged the router into my WattsUp Pro (similar to a Kill-a-Watt) and noted that it was using about 13.2 watts consistently with the wireless radio disabled. When I enabled the wireless this went up by less than anoher half watt (13.6). For any home user with broadband internet access, a router should be standard equipment and if wireless is used then a wireless access point would be required regardless. Essentially the point here is that at least in my case the MI424WR wouldn't add to my household power consumption over any other broadband internet service.
Next, I moved on to the PS/BBU/ONT. I too have an indoor 612 (but mounted in the environmental outdoor enclosure despite it being indoor).
- I measured around 15 watts "idle", but noted that it would occasionally rise to about 16.2 watts for short periods then drop down to 14.8-15.4 again.
- After allowing the ONT to run on battery for a while (20 minutes) I noted that consumption moved up by 11.6 watts and slowly went down after a while, presumably as the battery was nearing full charge again. I didn't allow the battery to discharge significantly, however it is possible that a deeper discharge would result in a higher charging rate but I would not expect it to be considerably higher (charging a sealed lead-acid battery too rapidly is not a good idea). If anyone has specs on the charging rate, or how long it takes to fully charge a drained battery it would be relatively easy to calculate the actual increase here, but since this is a rare event I wouldn't include it as being relevant to this discussion. This would also be seen as initial "consumption" but in fact is simply energy storage for later use.
- When using my phone, I noted power consumption increased by about 1.2 watts. This was the same with both my self-powered remote phones as well as my basic plain-vanilla line-powered phone, used primarily during power outages.
- With incoming calls (phone ringing), I noiced a negligible increase (perhaps just .1 watts). This was likely due to the fact that my phones all have electronic ringers and so would draw very little current.
As a side point, I had previously validated the readings on my WattsUp Pro using my Fluke 189/410 combination so I can trust the readings are reasonably accurate.
For mjkboston - did you happen to take note of the power consumption of your original Motorola Cable Modem and Netgear wireless router? If combined they used less than about 30 watts then in my home I would have higher power costs after switching to FiOS. However, your experience may be different. Just because you see an increased household usage based on readings from your Energy Detective does not mean it is due entirely to FiOS. This is why I like portable units like a Kill-A-Watt or WattsUp, since they allow me to determine actual usage of specific devices. On a month-month basis, I regularly see my household usage vary considerably (based on my utility statements) even when I haven't apparently done anything different.
For Kathleen, Techman28, and the other Verizon reps that come around here: Something that would be helpful is for Verizon to post or otherwise make available the expected/rated power consumption of the equipment placed at the resident, including the PSU, BBU, ONT, and wireless router. Every customer must agree and sign the Terms-of-Service which includes a note that the customer is responsible for providing power to these devices, but it does not provide any guidance on what to expect.
