Re: Suggestions for PVR please

The message <6a0e65fb-a0f0-4953-9357-ae0cc1c492b0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
from airsmoothed@xxxxxxxxxxx contains these words:

====big snip====

I suspect the OP's father in law is from the same generation as my
father, who methodically unplugs pretty much every appliance in the
house every night ;-)

That's perfectly understandable behaviour when you consider its origin,
Back in the day, the risk of an appliance cord fault causing a house
fire was very real (no plugtop fuse protection on the 5 and 15 amp house
wiring circuits of the day).

Although modern wiring standards and materials have reduced the risk
somewhat, it hasn't completely been eliminated so there's no real reason
for such a life saving habit to cease (at least, not in the mind of the
older generation).

You also have to keep in mind that pretty well all electrical devices
back then (even the electronic ones, such as radios and TV sets) were
fire hazards in themselves.

Nowadays, the only comparably dangerous items are electric fires, hair
driers, irons, washing machines and tumble driers (especially tumble
driers, so much so that the fire fighting service strongly advise
against running one unattended when retiring to bed for the night).

Today, the risk of conflagration from low power (sub 40 watt)
electronic boxes is at a vanishingly small level what with modern
materials and standards of construction aimed specifically at
eliminating this risk.

Although a risk still exists (at astronomically high odds against the
event) it is considered small enough in the risk/benefit equation for
most of us to accept the need to leave such devices powered up in
standby overnight in order to stay up to date with software or epg
updates (or even just to save the hassle of bending down to switch back
on at the set's mains isolator switch or at the mains outlet socket
switch).

However, if my youngest son's habit of loading the tumble drier at 1 or
2am and starting a 2 hour drying cycle just before going to his bed is
anything to go by, I suspect a good portion of his generation are going
to die in house fires due to the false sense of security in _all_ things
electrical engendered by the almost total absence of such risk in other
'household appliances' such as set top boxes, TV and radio sets and the
like.

Like anything else, the risk factor has to be decided on the merits of
each case. For instance, it would be deemed risk free to run a
tumbledrier unattended overnight if it were installed in a brick
outhouse _not_ adjoining the main residence.

Alternatively, the risk of leaving a set top box on overnight would be
deemed unacceptable if it were housed in a closed box with other heat
sources and a stuffing of shredded paper along with a pile of dry
cardboard stacked up against the housing and no (working) smoke detector
to raise an alarm.

This last example, whilst rather extreme, seems unlikely, but it's
surprising how often some folk can unwittingly simulate such a
circumstance.

This just shows how easy it is to under or over estimate the hazard of
overnight unattended operation (standby or not) of electrical
appliances. Most of us get it right most of the time (and live to a ripe
old age ;-), but some of us are going to be caught out and have an
exciting tale to tell of how they just failed to qualify for a "Darwin
Award" (if they're lucky).

Whilst all of this might seem "Off Topic" to the subject matter in
hand, it nevertheless addresses a real concern often expressed in
relation to such operational modes of the technical digital TV kit this
news group references.

It just seemed to me an opportunity to lend some context to
airsmoothed's bemusement over his father's seemingly obsessive concern
for electrical appliance safety. After all, airsmoothed's very existence
might, in a Darwinian sense, be owed to this very obsession. ;-)

--
Regards, John.

Please remove the "ohggcyht" before replying.
The address has been munged to reject Spam-bots.

.

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