what is time capsule's power consumption

The side of the power supply.

See http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPort+Time+Capsule+A1470+%28Mini%21%29+Teardown /15067/1

But the pic of the power supply is from the Extreme where it is shared.. ie same in both.

Says 12v 5A on the side.. but that will be absolute peak power output.

Most of these things will be designed to run a power supply at %50-60% of rated capacity.

I can't find the test reports that I saw on the new Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme, but as I recall the power consumption was about 25-30 Watts....about where the older versions of the products operated as well.

I don't have the readings for the latest AC models..

But the average use in standby was around 10-12W.. it depends on how many ports are used.

You can expect a few watts more than that with data activity.. but not alot.

About 5W-8W more during disk usage.

The new AC model might increase that a couple of watts but it won't be much.

Instantaneous demand during a disk spin up will probably go 40W but only for a few moments.

I just checked myself and freaked....

If you go to the Apple website they play with numbers.... 1.5 amps (input...) I am guessing that is worst cas or least amount of usage?

http://www.apple.com/airport-time-capsule/specs/

Then you have to go to a calculator page.

http://www.crownaudio.com/ohms-law.htm

My numbers for 110 Volts, 1.5 amps and I get 165 watts. But that only tells you a moment in time.

Go to another website for estimating overall a day, here you can plug in YOUR cost per kWh.

http://www.electricity-usage.com/Electricity-Usage-Calculator.aspx

So in closing 110 Volt, 1.5 amp converts over to 165 watts, but if you leave it on all day. I live in Hawaii, .035 cents kWh and I am paying 1.38 a day... $504.00 a year..... yeah power strip for me!

Check my math but I think Apple changed words for a reason.... just have to be smart to use a power strip when not home it seems.

Other topic is 1.5 amps is that router only or backing up? I am thinking they are saying worst case? But seems alot more than previous models.

Hope this helps.

That exceeds the power capability of the power supply.. which is 60W .. that 1.5A is inrush current at turn on.

Average power consumption will not even be 30W.

Where do you get the 60W value from? It is not in the owners manual. The website is saying 1.5 amps input, which is not a normal tech spec.

Not saying you are incorrect, just where do you get 60W or 30W?

Okay I see it, lower right hand side of picture. Hard to see, but there. Wow wonder why they just dont put that on the spec sheet.... no reply needed.

Thanks for the detailed response.

I've put mine (gen 4) on a power-meter and it takes about 10W in stand-by and 14-15W when I'm running a time machine backup..