Switching sim bays off between bookings, without switching off on a player
We put meters on the circuits at Bunkerbay Poole for a month. The answer was uncomfortable: the sim kit drew power all day, every day, whether anyone was playing or not.
What the meters showed
In December 2025 our electrician metered each circuit at our Poole venue, which has two simulator bays. Leaving out the car chargers, the venue used about 1,000 kWh in the month, before lighting, which wasn't on a meter.
| Circuit | December 2025 |
|---|---|
| AV rack (sim PCs, projectors, screens) | 314 kWh |
| Bar and bay sockets | 282 kWh |
| Air conditioning | 256 kWh |
| Other sockets and the gate | 147 kWh |
| Total, excluding car chargers | about 1,000 kWh |
The line that matters is the AV rack. It used about 10 kWh every single day of the month, with barely any difference between days. Even on Christmas Day it used 9.3 kWh. The kit was simply on.
Why "off when not booked" isn't as simple as it sounds
Switching bays off between bookings is the obvious fix. Doing it badly is worse than not doing it at all. Three things catch people out.
Rooms need warming up
Kit takes a few minutes to start. A cold room takes much longer: 30 to 60 minutes to come up to temperature in winter, depending on the building. "On at booking time" is too late. Power and heating need to come on ahead of the booking, with a longer lead time when it's cold.
People overrun
Golfers finish the hole, take one more shot, chat at the screen. If the bay switches off the moment the booking ends, someone gets plunged into darkness mid-swing, and that's the review you'll get. The calendar says the booking is over. The room might not agree.
Bookings change
Extensions, walk-ins, members on included hours, a booking moved at the last minute. If power only follows the original calendar entry, it'll be wrong some of the time.
What a safe setup looks like
- Power on ahead of the booking, with a longer lead in winter for heating.
- A check that the room is actually empty before anything switches off, not just that the booking has ended.
- A grace period after the session, so overruns and goodbyes don't get cut off.
- Follow changes, not just the original booking: moves, extensions and cancellations.
- Measure before and after, so you know what you've saved rather than guessing.
For the money side, see what a 24/7 bay really costs to power.
Power that follows the booking, safely
BAYi powers bays up ahead of each booking and down once the room is empty. Book a 20-minute video demo to see it at Bunkerbay.