I've Become a Computer Power Miser ... and I Like it!

[easysurfer]

Since switching over to Windows 10, I never could get the automatic sleep settings working properly. I used to have the screen save kick in after 3 minutes, then monitor go off after 10 minutes and computer automatically sleep after 20 minutes.

Now my power management is mostly a manual process. I have a function key set to sleep when I press that. What I find now is instead of sitting around the commuter for hours waiting for an email or a FB post or new [-]nonsense[/-] news stories, like a cat waiting for a mouse peeking at a mouse hole, the LBYM personality just puts the computer to sleep or hibernate when I know I won't be on doing anything useful on my computer for more than 10 minutes.

I almost make a game out of how long I can not use the computer throughout the day .

 

[Blueskies123]

Using my P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor I was surprised how much power my PC drew even in sleep mode, (and even while it was off). Some days I just my Ipad. PC makers need to find a way to get power usage down to zero while off.
I did not write the numbers down but if I recall correctly my PC drew 50% of the power in sleep mode as compared to when it was on. Even while off it was drawing 10 percent of normal operating wattage, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[easysurfer]

When my computer is on sleep mode, I can still used the USB port to recharge devices. Also, the LED light on the usb connected speakers stays on.

 

[imoldernu]

Holy Mackerel! Our 3 computers are on 24/7.
How much does that cost @ $.10/KWH?
We DO turn off the monitors

.

 

[NanoSour]

According to the DOE, sleep mode of 16 hours per day cost on average 22.2 cents per month based on 11.59 cents/kWh rate. Of all the things I spend money on, that's a pretty good value to not have to cycle the computer power every time I leave the machine.

I too did the Kill-a-watt check a couple months back. It had the opposite affect on me, as I was surprised how little energy the computers (I have 5 desktops in use everyday) and 50" plasma TV used. YMMV.

 

[sengsational]

I bought a thing where, when the computer quits drawing it's normal "on" power, the power gets cut to all the wall-wart power supplies under my desk. No need to have those pesky little things getting fed 24/7 if they're only required when I'm active on my computer. I suppose I could turn them off manually, but I realized I just didn't do it.

 

[REWahoo]

I bought a thing where, when the computer quits drawing it's normal "on" power, the power gets cut to all the wall-wart power supplies under my desk.

I bought one of those about five years ago. I figure in seven or eight more years it will have paid for itself.

 

[mountainsoft]

My computer is on 24/7 to control lighting, pumps, and fans in our house. It also records TV shows with a TV tuner. And I use it for work and our daily computing tasks.

Since I sit right next to the computer all day my main focus was quiet operation so I selected components that use little energy and don't need loud fans to keep things cool.

I have a UPS power supply that shows my computer uses about 70 watts when the monitor is off, and about 80 watts when the monitor is on. That's about the same as leaving a light bulb on all day (though we're all LED's here now, so they're down to 11-15 watts each).

My computer is a very minimal portion of our total electric usage. Our water heater and well pump are probably our two biggest energy hogs, other than the wall heaters in the winter.

 

[braumeister]

I bought one of those about five years ago. I figure in seven or eight more years it will have paid for itself.

I think that would apply to almost any device with a 5-6 year lifespan.

 

[NW-Bound]

Sleep mode on desktop PCs does not save power as much as it does on a laptop. The motherboard hardware is not built the same way, nor is the power supply.

And mobile CPUs are built to be power sippers, while desktop CPUs are built for more speed.

 

[W2R]

I have adjusted my laptop power settings so that I use as much power as is humanly possible, 24 hours/day. It's so annoying to me when the laptop has to be awakened before use.

Besides, what's money for? My average monthly electric bill so far this year has been $54, and that includes air conditioning. I can afford to be a big spender like this.

 

[davebarnes]

Sleep mode on desktop PCs does not save power as much as it does on a laptop.

Not true.
My iMac goes from 229 Watts full-on usage down to 1 Watt in sleep mode.

 

[NW-Bound]

OK. The Macs work better than the PCs. No PC desktop I have ever owned does that.

About running them at high speed all the time, their fans wear out or get clogged up with dust after a couple of years. I have known people upgrading their PC or laptop just because of that. Fine with me, as I have a lot of semiconductor stocks. Somebody has to support them.

 

[Blueskies123]

According to the DOE, sleep mode of 16 hours per day cost on average 22.2 cents per month based on 11.59 cents/kWh rate. Of all the things I spend money on, that's a pretty good value to not have to cycle the computer power every time I leave the machine.

I too did the Kill-a-watt check a couple months back. It had the opposite affect on me, as I was surprised how little energy the computers (I have 5 desktops in use everyday) and 50" plasma TV used. YMMV.

My Dell draws about 130 watts. If I had 5 desktops running all day that would be 800 watts all day long . That is like running my microwave all day long and my room would be very hot.

 

[Blueskies123]

I found my notes. By Dell draws 130 watts when active, 97 watts while on but idling, and 50 watts while sleeping. And most interesting, 16 watts while off but plugged in.

 

[imoldernu]

When I figured my cost for 3 computers "on" 24/7 using the recommended calculator it came out to $24,018.57 per year.

Dunno the difference between watts, kilowatts, megawatts, milliwatts, and megawatts, so, I checked with Google and found this:

Electricity ranges from about 10 cents per KWH to 20 cents in the US. So the computer on 24/7 would cost $32.40@10 cents and $64.80@ 20 cents. The computer on 100% full power capacity 24/7 would cost about $193 to $386 per year. It depends on the computer, the activity, and your cost of electricity.

Thankfully, I can handle this, 'cuz our computers "rest", most of the time.

Just realized we spend $150 on wild bird and bunny/squirrel feed EVERY year.

Time for us to go back to the drawing boards on our budget... Jeanie says she's tired of eating Ramen Noodle soup for every meal.

Somethin's gotta give!!!

 

[sengsational]

I bought one of those about five years ago. I figure in seven or eight more years it will have paid for itself.

Yeah, that's the math that keeps me from doing all kinds of stuff like this. My UPS gave out, though, and I actually downgraded to this thing.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

My power use scheme works pretty well -
When I am finished with a session, I turn the computer off.

The router and modem also get turned off each night. I have always done it this way with no problems or longevity issues.

All of my computers run SSD's and boot up in 20-30 seconds, so no real inconvenience.

 

[RobbieB]

I looked at the watts via my new UPS and it's zero when sleeping. Runs at 70 to 150 when active.

No big deal.

 

[LOL!]

I suppose the power used by a laptop might also depend on whether it is charging its battery or not. So usage might be different in these situations:

1. Not plugged in. Duh!

2. Plugged in, battery charged, sleeping.

3. Plugged in, battery charging, sleeping.

4. Plugged in, screen brightness set on high, keyboard brightness set on high, doing bitcoin mining, and charging the battery.

5. Same as #4, but using bluetooth, wifi, and watching videos, with fans on.

And then when you have that all figured out, you can become an Illumination miser and keep all lights off in your home because you wear a solar-charged LED headlamp for whenever you need light.

Don't forget to unscrew the light bulbs inside your fridge and freezer.

 

[Blueskies123]

I looked at the watts via my new UPS and it's zero when sleeping. Runs at 70 to 150 when active.

No big deal.

Something seems wrong. If it truly was zero it could not wake up. Even while totally turned off my PC draws a lot of power. If you have a laptop it maybe running off it's own internal battery which will demand to be recharged at some point. If you have a PC I am faily sure it is drawing power.

 

[mountainsoft]

Something seems wrong. If it truly was zero it could not wake up.

His UPS (like mine) probably only shows full watts, so the sleeping usage (say 2 tenths of a watt) is probably just below the threshold to display a "1".

Most houses are full of these "vampire" loads. Anything with a clock or remote control is going to use a small amount of power. Even most battery chargers will still have a small draw if left plugged in and not charging a battery. Individually the power usage is insignificant, but add up 20 devices using 2 tenths of a watt and you're wasting 4 watts. The more devices and the higher the standby usage the worse it is.

Of course, most of us have come to expect these modern conveniences and aren't likely to run around unplugging everything when we're not using them. When I was a kid, the KIDS were the remote control. Dad would sit in his recliner and say "go change the channel".

 

[ncbill]

His UPS (like mine) probably only shows full watts, so the sleeping usage (say 2 tenths of a watt) is probably just below the threshold to display a "1".

Most houses are full of these "vampire" loads. Anything with a clock or remote control is going to use a small amount of power. Even most battery chargers will still have a small draw if left plugged in and not charging a battery. Individually the power usage is insignificant, but add up 20 devices using 2 tenths of a watt and you're wasting 4 watts. The more devices and the higher the standby usage the worse it is.

With modern switching power supplies it's closer to hundredths of a watt per device.

Not enough to worry about anymore.

 

[RobbieB]

Yup only full watts.

I really don't worry about this little leakage. 10 watts continuous for a year is going to cost less than 30 bucks even in CA

 

[mountainsoft]

I really don't worry about this little leakage. 10 watts continuous for a year is going to cost less than 30 bucks even in CA

It probably matters more to the power company. 10 watts times one million users would translate into 10 megawatts per year. That's a little more significant, which could potentially require new power generation, and could translate into higher costs for customers.

However, like you, I don't worry about those small electrical loads even though I know they're wasting energy.