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Sonos devices status when disabled/inactive

  • 7 January 2024
  • 7 replies
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Hi. I'm a Sonus system newbie and new to the forum as well. I'm just looking for a little advice on the best state to leave a Sonus system in when it's not being used. We have a new home theater  system consisting of an LG OLED tv, Sonos ARC, Sub & Era 100's for surround sound.

My wife, or I, will very frequently use blue tooth headphones to watch tv so as not to disturber the other. In order to use the BT headphones I have disable both HDMI-CEC and eARC on the tv. With HDMI-CEC & eARC disabled the status LED on the Sub and Era's remain white as long as Sub Audio and Surround Audio are left enabled on the Sonos app. If I disable the Sub & Surround Audio on the Sonos app, the LED on both starts a slow green flash.

I know a white LED means the device is powered and ready to use and the slow green flash just means the devise is disabled in the Sonos app. 

My question: is there a recommended state for the devices in when not in use? Does one state consume more power than the other? Or, does it even matter?

Any advice would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths 7 January 2024, 21:28

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7 replies

I don’t personally see any point in disabling the two surrounds and sub, just leave them as they are - connected with a white static LED in standby mode, they will sleep/fall idle and conserve power themselves when not playing.

Here in fact is their energy usage in standby, when left idle…

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-power-consumption-while-idle

Just to add aswell,  in the Arc room settings in ‘Settings/System’ in the Sonos App there is an option to disable the Status LED on your Sonos Arc/Surrounds etc. 

You’ve run in to the nature of the CEC specification, which currently allows only one audio sync to be connected…I continue to wonder when that will be updated, and how/if it will trickle down to all devices.

However, in answer to your question, no, it doesn’t make a difference. After a certain period, the Sonos devices will go into low power mode on their own, waiting for a ‘wake up’ signal of some type. Shouldn’t matter if they’re connected to your TV/Wifi/whatever, or not. 

Thank you both so much for the answers, really appreciate it.  And in particular I appreciate the link to power consumption at idle, was curious about that as well but intended that for another question.

One last question about device idle state:  is there a way to tell if a devise actually goes into idle state or are we just assume that everything is going to work as designed?  (Yes, I know I can be some what of a skeptic but it’d just be know if things are working as planned! ) 

Thanks again.

Thank you both so much for the answers, really appreciate it.  And in particular I appreciate the link to power consumption at idle, was curious about that as well but intended that for another question.

One last question about device idle state:  is there a way to tell if a devise actually goes into idle state or are we just assume that everything is going to work as designed?  (Yes, I know I can be some what of a skeptic but it’d just be know if things are working as planned! ) 

Thanks again.

I’m not sure  when devices go into idle mode, but presumably within 15 minutes - there are some smart plugs/adapters that can report these changes in power consumption, but I’ve never bothered with them so can’t comment on how well they work.

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I use a Kill-A-Watt meter to check power usage and it is both simple and effective.

Many versions but this one will do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=sr_1_6

Again, thank you both.  🙏