Author Topic: Power Consumption? (Read 3898 times)

katynewbie · « **on:** October 17, 2006, 21:17:55 »

???

Have been chatting with friends and we disagree.
Does it use more energy to switch the pc on and leave it running? Mates say they switch it off unless they really want to do something. I leave it on cos I may need to do something! I thought it used more energy starting up.

Who is right? Worried about my carbon footprint etc, but want to use the pc as and when!

Ta

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2006, 21:42:48 »

I always thought it was best left on and I have done for ages but not convinced that it is right thing to do, so I may be a Dinosaur :o ::) :P ;D

We may also leave ourselves wide open to hackers :o

MikeB · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2006, 22:20:03 »

It burns more energy being left on than it would in starting up.

Mike

glow777 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2006, 22:49:34 »

I recently did a study for this at work - I control over 60Pcs

Power usage depends on what the PC is doing. Booting uses a lot ticking over not so much, but leving the PC on my shorten hard drive/cpu life etc.

Biggest power consumption was thru heavy CPU cycles caused by excessive graphic card use most notbly from 3D screensavers.

The answer was if you use a pc @ least every 2 1/2 hours it is more economical to leave it switched on BUT to have monitor and disks power down after short periods of rest.

Other connected big users of power are printers - dont switch them on until a print is required. At home most users print less than 1 page a day but have the printer on 24/7 and mobile phone chargers - chargers use power all the time they are plugged in

hope this helps

Curryandchips · « **Reply #4 on:** October 17, 2006, 23:02:03 »

In all these studies, it is generally forgotten what happens to all the energy after it has been expended - it ends up as heat. With the exception of business centres with banks of computers (eg call centres), the majority of systems are essentially small systems, and the heat generated is offset by a reduction in the heating bill. Thus the energy consumption itself is mostly recycled, except in extreme temperature conditions.

I mostly leave my home computer running, with the screen in powersaver mode.

tim · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2006, 06:44:47 »

Thanks for the advice about printers, Glowy - it's now OFF!!

I'm constantly nagged about the consumption by (quite bright) 'neons' on cordless phones when they are in their holder. We have 4. Should one leave the phones out until they really needs charging?

glow777 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2006, 07:59:21 »

Tim

Its a personal choice really but all rechargeable bateries will perform better (especially older laptop batteries) if allowed to fully drain down before recharging).

However you dont want to get caught out with no power when you want to make a long call.

We let ours dwindle to 1/3 before recharging, unfortunately the stations have to be plugged in at all times for the phone system to function.

glow777 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2006, 08:06:04 »

For those who must leave there pc on all day there is plenty of free automatic shutdown programs so you can power your pc down at night

eg
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/Access_Control_Utilities/Auto_Shutdown.html

tim · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2006, 13:41:24 »

Give me steam engines!!

froglets · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2006, 19:19:40 »

Out of geeky curiosity, what is it about printers that mean the consume so much 'leccie when not being used? Are we talking laser or 't'other

katynewbie · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2006, 19:41:34 »

;D

Thanks everyone for the very useful answers! Will leave it on!

;)

glow777 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2006, 22:07:28 »

Quote from: froglets on October 18, 2006, 19:19:40

Out of geeky curiosity, what is it about printers that mean the consume so much 'leccie when not being used? Are we talking laser or 't'other

They dont use massive amounts its just a case of why have something on 24/7 when you only print 3 letters a week.

Although with inkjets switching them off will conserve ink head life & ink. When switched off inkjets especially epson printers dock at the side of the printer and a foam pad seals the inkheads reducing ink drying on the heads. This can be a problem with compatable water based ink not so much with genuine (read expensive) alcohol based inks

MrsKP · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2006, 22:35:21 »

tend to leave mine switched on when i'm in the house as i'm always popping on and off, but do have a habit of leaving the printer switched on when i don't necessarily need it. thanks for that tip.

i ALWAYS power down my computer at work at the end of the day, AND switch the monitor off, i think i'm the only person in the place that does. bl00dy well annoys me that does. tax payers money you see.

Travman · « **Reply #13 on:** October 20, 2006, 18:58:55 »

A monitor in standby draws around 5 watts
The tower in standby around 35 to 50 watts

so in standby a max of 55 watts per hour ...

1 kw = 1000 watts .. 1000 divided by 55 =18.18
so in 18 hours it will use 1kw of power

In use the monitor around 120watts, PC around 250watts = 370 watts divide by 1000watts= 2.72 hours
so ...
if on standby for 18 hours and in use for 6 hours it would be approx 4kw per day

Average cost per Kw= 10p x 4 =40p a day or £2.80 a week

On boot up it may draw up to 400 watts but this would only be for a 2 minutes max so watts would be 400/30=13.33 into 1000 = 75 bootups per KW
or 150 bootups per day to equal 18 hours on standby

I think

MrsKP · « **Reply #14 on:** October 20, 2006, 19:02:38 »

WOW ! that's a lot of bootups !

funnily enough, we had an email round today reminding everyone to power down and monitor off. they must have read my rant (which is deeply worrying lmao).

telboy · « **Reply #15 on:** October 26, 2006, 21:59:50 »

Well said Travman,

I don't think people realise how much power 'leccy' items consume on standby & the fire risk by doing so!!!
And those 40" t.v.'s that are being dragged out of the 'sheds'. They consume 400% more power than a convential tube tele.

How's your carbon footprint?

Yellow Petals · « **Reply #16 on:** October 26, 2006, 23:22:04 »

I leave everything plugged in and on standby and I mean everything. Oops. The tv, dvd player, hi-fi, computer, etc. My hubby builds and repairs computers as a side job and he said it does the computer more good to be left on permanently than booted up over and over. I guess the swings and roundabouts leave it to personal choice at the end of the day. Apart from the computer (cos that's hubby's area hehe) the rest is purely for convenience on my part.

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #17 on:** October 27, 2006, 00:05:05 »

YP your a dinosaur and should be ashamed of yourself. :(

MrsKP · « **Reply #18 on:** October 27, 2006, 05:53:14 »

i must admit to being a lazy oik myself until a few months ago when a £400 bill needed paying. nothing raises the awareness more than a large hole in your pocket.

Now everything is off (apart from the fridges and freezers) except the sky box which the OH insists on keeping on standby as it goes wibbly if it gets turned off.

Yellow Petals · « **Reply #19 on:** October 27, 2006, 08:08:04 »

Quote from: Roy Bham UK on October 27, 2006, 00:05:05

YP your a dinosaur

Can't argue with that ;D

Quote from: Roy Bham UK on October 27, 2006, 00:05:05

and should be ashamed of yourself. :(

Nah ;D

Btw, am I not right in remembering that the new law means that in 1-2yrs time all new electrical goods are going to be made without a standby so peeps will have no choice but to actually turn it off? See, in a couple of years I will no longer be a dinosaur ;) ;D

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Author Topic: Power Consumption? (Read 3898 times)

Yellow Petals

Yellow Petals