Reducing my electricity usage
July 19, 2008 3:55 AM Subscribe
How can I make my WinXP PC use less electricity? I'm trying to optimise my desktop PC's use of energy as much as possible. What are some effective ways to do that?
So far I have:
Also, are there any other things I could do (that don't involve purchasing new hardware, preferably) to help save on energy usage?
So far I have:
- Taken out a superfluous hard drive.
- Set it to go into S3 standby rather than S1, at an interval.
- Purchased a LCD monitor that uses less than 1W of electricity in standby.
- Unplugged the scanner/printer when they aren't in use.
Also, are there any other things I could do (that don't involve purchasing new hardware, preferably) to help save on energy usage?
Seriously underclocking your processor would save power, but only if you also reduce the voltage level. Additionally, you may be able to reduce the number of fans in your system. Take out any modems or other cards that you aren't using. If you want to get crazy, yanking out memory will save you a couple of watts.
The disadvantage with underclocking and removing memory is that you may have the computer (and all its peripherals) on longer to accomplish the same task. If you are doing photoshop (or maybe even the latest version of office), and it takes you 80 minutes instead of 60 to do something, you might be wiping out your power savings, or even going into the red.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:40 AM on July 19, 2008
The disadvantage with underclocking and removing memory is that you may have the computer (and all its peripherals) on longer to accomplish the same task. If you are doing photoshop (or maybe even the latest version of office), and it takes you 80 minutes instead of 60 to do something, you might be wiping out your power savings, or even going into the red.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:40 AM on July 19, 2008
Put everything on a switched power bar, hibernate the computer when you're not using it, and turn the lot off at the switch. That way, you've killed all your standby phantom loads.
posted by scruss at 4:49 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by scruss at 4:49 AM on July 19, 2008
Switch to an all-black desktop background, and turn off all unnecessary services (and animations, startup programs, etc.). (I'm not an engineer, but it seems logical that these kinds of steps will reduce electricity consumption by a tiny but nonzero amount.)
posted by box at 6:10 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by box at 6:10 AM on July 19, 2008
I thought black used more power than white on LCDs. CRTs save power with black though.
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:22 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:22 AM on July 19, 2008
Get yourself one of these. When your PC shuts down (or goes into hibernation), this device will automatically shut off power to your scanner/printer/monitor/external drives/etc. It'll save you having to remember to switch everything off individually.
There's also a version that will cut power to your satellite/dvd/games console/amp etc. when your TV goes into standby.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 7:14 AM on July 19, 2008
There's also a version that will cut power to your satellite/dvd/games console/amp etc. when your TV goes into standby.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 7:14 AM on July 19, 2008
Yeah, why not just hibernate the thing and use zero energy? I think the laws of diminishing returns is kicking in here. You've done a lot already and hibernation is the next step. A minor underclock will results in few saved watts but much, much slower performance. I dont think its worth it.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:15 AM on July 19, 2008
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:15 AM on July 19, 2008
FWIW, laptops can do this trick because they use speedstep to dynamically slow down the CPU, but desktops also use whats called the HLT instruction to slow down the CPU when its not in use. So the idea that its burning 40 watts 24/7 is simply wrong.
Regardless, I suggest you spring for a kill-o-watt to see your actual use and to measure the results of some of the more voodoo suggestions like changing background color.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:22 AM on July 19, 2008
Regardless, I suggest you spring for a kill-o-watt to see your actual use and to measure the results of some of the more voodoo suggestions like changing background color.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:22 AM on July 19, 2008
I use one of these not only for my computer but also all around the house.
With my computer on "standby" my computer, LCD screen and UPS still use 24 watts; on "normal" use it jumps to 162 watts.
I also have a switched power strip which the printers, speakers etc. all plug in to.
posted by lungtaworld at 8:35 AM on July 19, 2008
With my computer on "standby" my computer, LCD screen and UPS still use 24 watts; on "normal" use it jumps to 162 watts.
I also have a switched power strip which the printers, speakers etc. all plug in to.
posted by lungtaworld at 8:35 AM on July 19, 2008
Response by poster: It's using the killawatt that set me on the track of reducing the usage. My old monitor would use 12w even while it was turned off, which is why I changed it to the new one.
The base unit uses ~150w on startup, then settles down to about 90-100w. Removing the additional hard drive cuts out about 15w, but it's still using more than I'd like.
posted by Solomon at 9:14 AM on July 19, 2008
The base unit uses ~150w on startup, then settles down to about 90-100w. Removing the additional hard drive cuts out about 15w, but it's still using more than I'd like.
posted by Solomon at 9:14 AM on July 19, 2008
In my experience, the standby modes don't work as well as I'd like them to.
Set the computer to enable hibernation. Then change the "when I push the power button on my computer" option to hibernate. When you're done using your computer, hit the button and walk away. It will hibernate- which is a "mode" where it save the contents of the memory to disk and powers completely off. When you turn it back on, it puts that information back into memory and within a few seconds, you're back in action- everything is exactly the way it was when you left, and you used no power in the interim.
You can further "automate" this by getting one of those magic power strips linked above that shuts everything else down when the computer is off. Or, go into the BIOS of the computer and change the "power loss" or "AC recovery" mode to on. When you turn the power switch back on, the computer automatically starts.
posted by gjc at 9:19 AM on July 19, 2008
Set the computer to enable hibernation. Then change the "when I push the power button on my computer" option to hibernate. When you're done using your computer, hit the button and walk away. It will hibernate- which is a "mode" where it save the contents of the memory to disk and powers completely off. When you turn it back on, it puts that information back into memory and within a few seconds, you're back in action- everything is exactly the way it was when you left, and you used no power in the interim.
You can further "automate" this by getting one of those magic power strips linked above that shuts everything else down when the computer is off. Or, go into the BIOS of the computer and change the "power loss" or "AC recovery" mode to on. When you turn the power switch back on, the computer automatically starts.
posted by gjc at 9:19 AM on July 19, 2008
You've aleady done a pretty good job. Put your PC into sleep mode when you get up. Think about the other power in the room. If you're currently using an incandescent bulb, switching to a Compact Fluorescent will save more power than anything you could do to your PC.
The other option is to buy a laptop. I'm not 100% sure of the power requirements of newer laptops (40-50 watts?), but older laptops use as little as 30 watts of electricity while running. They also tend to have more reliable power management than desktops. Using a laptop would cut your power usage by 1/2 to 2/3.
posted by cnc at 6:15 PM on July 19, 2008
The other option is to buy a laptop. I'm not 100% sure of the power requirements of newer laptops (40-50 watts?), but older laptops use as little as 30 watts of electricity while running. They also tend to have more reliable power management than desktops. Using a laptop would cut your power usage by 1/2 to 2/3.
posted by cnc at 6:15 PM on July 19, 2008
Replace the power supply with a 80 Plus certified power supply. These run at a higher efficiency, meaning that less electricity is wasted as heat.
posted by kenliu at 12:02 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by kenliu at 12:02 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lukeo05 at 4:03 AM on July 19, 2008