How much power does Alva LINK consume — and is it always on?

Alva LINK is always on, and its own power consumption is negligible compared to the energy it saves.

Power draw: LINK consumes approximately 2–3 watts during normal operation — comparable to a phone charger left plugged in. Over an entire year, that's roughly 18–26 kWh. At average European electricity prices, that's approximately €5–8/year to run. Given that even a single-asset heat pump setup saves €122–€282/year with Autopilot, LINK's yearly power draw is recovered within the first two weeks of operation.

Why always-on matters: LINK must be powered continuously to do its job. The optimization engine runs 24/7 — monitoring electricity prices, maintaining communication with your energy assets, executing scheduled control commands, and adjusting plans as conditions change. A heat pump optimization decision at 03:00 (shifting load to the cheapest overnight hour) requires the device to be awake at 03:00. There is no meaningful "sleep" state for an energy controller.

Thermal design: At 2–3 watts, LINK generates minimal heat. The enclosure is passively cooled with no fans or moving parts. There is no audible noise — ever. The device is rated for continuous operation in ambient temperatures typical of European utility rooms and technical closets, including unheated garages and basement spaces.

What about power outages? If your home loses power, LINK loses power too — it does not contain an internal battery. When power returns, LINK boots automatically, reconnects to Wi-Fi, re-establishes Modbus communication with your assets, fetches the latest price and weather data, and resumes optimization. No manual intervention required. The boot sequence takes approximately 30–60 seconds. Any optimization schedule that was interrupted resumes from the current state, not from where it left off — LINK recalculates based on current conditions rather than replaying a stale plan.

No moving parts: LINK has no fans and no spinning storage.