Many times, your soundbar is your favorite home device. When a soundbar connects to your smart home devices, your TV, your phones, and beyond, it is constantly in use to play your favorite media. You may be wondering if it's OK to leave your soundbar on all the time. It can be a hassle to turn it off, and you know you'll be using it again soon.
Can you leave a soundbar on all the time? Just like any other speaker, you can damage your soundbar if you leave it on all the time. It can get overheated, pose a fire hazard, and unnecessarily use up energy.
While it may seem convenient and harmless to keep your soundbar on all the time, you can shorten the lifetime of your investment, amongst other things. Here's why it's a problem and what you can do instead.
What Happens When Your Leave a Soundbar On?
Soundbars are getting cheaper, but they are still an investment. Like all investments, it's important to take good care of it to make sure it lasts a long time. Leaving a soundbar on all of the time can cause overheating, poses a fire hazard, and uses more energy than needed.
Overheating
Since a soundbar is a speaker system in itself, you need to treat it like one. Speakers need to be treated carefully, in order to avoid damage. Heat is the enemy to all electronics, and in order to last a long time, electronic devices need to be kept at an optimum temperature.
When speakers or a soundbar are powered up and left on, the constant electricity being sent to your soundbar can cause it to overheat. It may not be too noticeable at the time, but over time, constant overheating can cause damage to your soundbar, which will shorten its life.
Just like computers and other technology, soundbars, which often use HDMI technology as we explained in our other article, need a break from the constant electric current. Do keep in mind that most manufacturers will likely include safeguards for this type of issue, but it's always good to be aware of overheating.
A Fire Hazard
While it is surprising, many house fires are caused by electronics that haven't been shut down properly or have even just been put on standby. Sometimes, it's because the electronics are old and faulty, but other times, it's simply an unfortunate unforeseen event due to the constant electric current.
The chances of a fire from your soundbar being kept on all the time are extremely tiny, but it's probably best to not even put yourself or your family at risk. When all of your devices are unplugged properly, you can have the peace of mind to know that you are not setting yourself up for the slim chance that an electrical fire starts.
It best to keep your electronics connected to some type of power conditioner or surge protector.
Unnecessary Energy Use
Who doesn't want to save money on their energy bill? Even when your devices are not in use, they're using up energy and costing you money. Simply getting in the habit of fully powering down your devices, including your soundbar, can make a big difference in your energy costs every month.
Plus, cutting down on energy use by powering down your devices regularly can help contribute to a more sustainable planet. Even simple changes like these can impact the future of our planet and make for a greener, cleaner environment.
What You Should Do With Your Soundbar When Not in Use
There are a lot of ways that you can save your soundbar when it's not in use. Taking a few seconds to power off your soundbar or make sure it's in energy save mode can protect your investment, save energy, and eliminate a potential safety hazard.
Power Off
Whether you're heading to bed, heading to work, or leaving the house for a little while, it's time to power off your soundbar. Taking the few extra seconds to safely turn off your device is the key to making your investment last.
Make sure to power off your device the right way — don't just unplug it or turn off your power strip without properly powering it down first. Use your soundbar's remote or the power button on your soundbar to power it down the way the manufacturer intended. Otherwise, you risk damaging your device.
Once you get in the habit of powering down your device properly, it will become muscle memory and not a hassle any longer. Plus, you will have peace of mind from possible damage or hazard.
Unplug
After you've powered down your soundbar, it's best to even go the extra mile and unplug it completely. Even if your devices are powered off or in energy save mode, they are still using up a small amount of electricity when plugged in, and there is still a small chance of an electrical fire.
If your soundbar is connected to a power strip, you can simply unplug the power strip after everything is properly shut down, and it doesn't matter if the TV is on because it doesn't power the soundbar (we've explained this before). There is no need to individually unplug your components.
Energy Save Mode
Many soundbars come equipped with an energy save mode. In some cases, you can set your soundbar to automatically go into energy save mode after a certain amount of time. In other cases, you may need to manually put your soundbar to “sleep”.
Energy save mode is a good alternative to powering down and unplugging, especially if you will be using your soundbar again quickly. You do still save some energy, lower your risk of an electrical fire, and keep your soundbar from overheating.
Conclusion
Whether your aim is to save the environment, save your home from a fire hazard, or increase the longevity of your soundbar, it's vital that you properly power down your soundbar when it's not in use. Even though it may not be immediately noticeable, leaving your soundbar on all of the time can cause harm in all of these ways, and it's best to make powering it off a regular habit.
Sometimes, it can be as simple as programming your soundbar to shut off by itself, and powering it down completely at night. However you do it, simple changes can make a big difference.
