HVAC Question: Finding Power Consumption of Gear

[ndogg]

Hey Folks,

I'm trying to calculate the power consumption of gear in the studio for an HVAC Engineer to design an appropriate HVAC solution for us.

Here's the problem: how does one accurately find the Wattage of gear? An example: the JBL LSR6328P speakers we use (and love) have "175 W" printed right on the back under the AC connector, but in the tech specs, it lists "Long Term Maximum System Power @ 220 W." The tech specs also break down the Sine Wave Power Rating of both the low and high frequency components of the amplifier (250 W and 120 W, respectively).

So which figure should one use when trying to calculate the power consumption of the gear for purposes of HVAC design? I'm hoping I can just read the back of each piece of gear.

Thanks in advance,
n

[sound_music]

i just went through this myself, unfortunately there's a bit of math and some guesswork involved.

you can only work with the info you have, and most gear only tells you it's maximum draw. (on the back of the device or the wall wart etc.) so you add all those up, and then do a calculation between the max and an estimated average. i was advised to estimate the average at 50% of any given equipment's maximum draw. (advised by a very experienced studio electrical engineer.)

so, very roughly, for power consumption and HVAC considerations you have to decide what's realistic in terms of how many machines are ever going to to be working at the same time, and at what capacity. only you or your AE can make a realistic estimation about this.

for my room (on the technical leg of our power that is dedicated to audio equipment only) we decided there were very few scenarios where everything would be lit up and pumping all at once, so we ended up calculating our average draw at about 60% for HVAC considerations, and left headroom up to 90% of the total possible draw for extenuating circumstances regarding power consumption.

sorry, i know that's a bit vague, but i hope it helps.