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112 Comments
- zeldafan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+117Yeah, but then when will I have time to download my torrents?
- steelmaverick, on 10/12/2007, -2/+55I wonder if we can have some sort of "BitTorrent standby mode" where it just sits there and does nothing but download my torrents.
Besides, think of how much I'm saving right now by downloading movies! - zeldafan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+54I turn off my monitors when ever I'm not using them or leave the room for an hour or more, same goes for my speakers.
- DrakeGTA, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24I run folding@home, so I just leave my PCs on all the time, and let them do some good.
- CLIFFosakaJAPAN, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26@zeldafan
Good (and funny) point! I think you can save some significant coin by turning down your display backlight or CTR screen to 'dark' while downloading your torrents... - cphuntington97, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Icecream is right.
Behold: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=12&l2=43&l3=0&model=979&modelmenu=1
Download Master
Download files from the Internet even when the PC is off.
- Auto bandwidth management ensures Internet access quality
- Download 7 BitTorrent and 10 FTP/HTTP files simultaneously - Lorian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21I usually have Azureus running as well. When I leave the computer I just turn off my monitors and speakers and leave it going.
- sonmiles, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23How much time would I waste waiting to power up my PC every time I want to jump on it? When would I run scheduled tasks like backups, defrags, virus scans, spyware scans, updates, etc? Turning off your PC is just stupid until they make them instant on/off.
- kenadak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19sorry, but I completely disagree with this article. now, if you don't use your computer daily (who on digg doesn't) then this might be ok... Think about the amount of abuse your computer takes every time you push the power button in. This jolt to the system significantly lowers the life of your computer (how many have had their computer die during normal operation) so you save $100 a year... the cost of replacing burnt out components/recovering lost data greatly out paces that in my normal day to day life... setting monitors to shut off after activity is a good thing but as far as the power consumption of monitors? maybe CRT's eat that much power... LCD's are Significantly less power hungry.
just my 2c. - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Same here, but with the room is actually warmer if I am running FAH vs. not running it, because the computer is running quite a bit harder. I suspect the cost of running the computer with FAH at full blast is more than $100/yr.
Think of the irony of the climateprediction.net folks...the simulation is burning up extra oil for electricity, therefore contributing to global warming all by itself. - jsg7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Get a...... new video card...
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15During the winter, your computer is converting the power into heat, thus lowering your utility bill. So much for stupid eco-diatribes.
- Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I measured my PC using a clamp Amp meter a few weeks ago and measured most of the crap in my house for kicks.
For interest's sake, this is what I came up with for some of the stuff we Diggers care about:
10" active subwoofer with no audio signal (eg. standby): 6.72W
40" LCD HDTV: 4.48W in standby, 227.36W on and tuning analog cable
Surround receiver (mid-range Panasonic): 0W standby, 28W on and playing music too loud
Small laser printer: 8.96W standby (not power saving mode, I was too impatient to wait for that), while printing: 616W!
5.1 PC speakers: 8.96W on or off (still powering the sub)
19" LCD monitor: Standby mode 3.36W, ON and displaying w/ high brightness: 29.12W
Microwave while running: 1209W!
PC w/ 450W power supply, sitting at Windows desktop with few apps running: 112W
Around my area, we pay $0.12 per kilowatt hour, meaning that since I leave my PC on 24/7 and rarely spend a lot of time pushing the CPU and video card hard, it costs me roughly $0.013, or a little over a penny an hour to operate. - merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11The 2 cents an hour estimate is actually pretty low. Most rigs probably pull more than 200 watts, *especially* anything with a real 3d card. A brand new, top of the line gaming rig is at least in the 400 watt range these days -- probably closer to 600 watts. Those new nvidia cards are huge friggin hogs. Overclocking can seriously up your power usage too.
Similarly, I'm pretty sure I'm paying 20 cents/kwh here, compared to the 10 estimated by the article.
So, depending on your rig, and where you live, the numbers may actually be much higher. - 8fans, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11This is like posting a how to use less gas article in a NASCAR forum.
- encognito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9My computer is on 24/7. CPU usage is at 100% for at least 16 hours a day running Folding@Home. I turn the monitor off and “with a 50% / 50% split of energy consumed between the computer and the display screen,” this would cut the savings to $50 bucks a year. $50 / 12 = $4.17 a month in savings. Hmmm, is helping to solve the fundamental problems of diseases such as Alzheimers worth $4.17 a month?
Moreover this computer is over 10 years old and still going strong. I can’t quantify it precisely but I strenuously believe that not turning the computer on and off each day for 10 years has definitely extended its functional life. Thereby saving me a lot more than $4.17 a month. Turning your computer off and on each day in order to save money sounds like a high tech example of stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. - stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Yes I run FAH also. Computer heats the room = I use less heat from my house heater to heat the room.
- G-RaZoR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Well what they dont tell you is, sure you can save $100 by turning your pc off. Or you can save $1000 by downloading torrents. I prefer the second choice.
- lostradamus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13I leave my computer on overnight when electricity is cheaper. Off during the day.
- lagnut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9what?! and kill my windows 2 days uptime?!?! no thanks
- slashdotted, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Heat, can be good in the winter, but
Heat, is _not_ good in the summer when it fights with my Air Conditioner - Bamborzled, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Probably your monitor is the biggest power-leecher. Just turn that off.
- Godpigeon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8um... usually computers will shutdown the biggest users of energy if not in use for a time. But even then hibernate,and almost to the same level sleep, use barely anymore electricity than turned off.
If you want to save electricity unplug also, the power supply uses some just by being plugged in. - antdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Also, don't use 3D/intensive screen savers (if you use one) or just the monitor sleep.
- Rorrim, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9That was the _first_ thing that came to my mind, seriously.
I could download >100$ "worth" of things while torrenting at night. - rfunches, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"So your not taking into account the abuse your computer takes while it is on? Brownouts, surges, thermal wear."
That's why you place a UPS unit with AVR between the outlet and the computer. - Icecream, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14You can buy Routers that have HDDs in them, You can set them to Download your torrents. No need to have your computer on at all to download torrents.
- Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Or, you know, use standby mode instead and you get the best of both worlds...
- ptrcd003, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Actually most components fail at the time you start the computer. I've had hard drives, power supplies, and ram fail at that time. Think about it, if a hard drive is spinning, the motor is warmed up, there is no reason it would just fail. But when you're starting it, it gets a jolt, needs extra energy to spin up, extra wear and tear, etc.
- Giever, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Sheesh, that seemed a little harsh. I suppose it was justified though. On an almost unrelated topic, who here hates it when people put noses in their faces? Such as: ;^)
- SeanFL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5and likewise during the summer it helps to generate more heat...so it could be more than $100 savings if it's heating up a room and kicking the air conditioning on to compensate. (put 3 or more machines in a room and you do have the equivalent of a space heater going).
- 0x0000ff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6maybe not efficient, but it doesn't need to be as the heat is a by-product of the PC's actual intended use. Smartarse.
- nuclearpenguins, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5My PC has been on for the better part of three years. Only turning off for misc. reboots. I don't think I'll change my habits though.
- timmyallen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5maybe go spend that $100 on what your actually downloading ;)
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7I doubt your computer makes an efficient electric space heater...
- Ssullivan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I leave my computer on to run seti@home as well as torrent. However I do turn my monitor off when I don't need it.
- Radionesiac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4this is exactly what i came in to comment about. you're absolutely right.
- tony134340, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Actually the off/on cycle creates a large temperature difference in the electronics, and can arguably reduce the life of the components perhaps a slight amount, just as a lightbulb turning off and on constantly can burn out faster.
- nick0909, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I know why... it came to me when you said "... a girl..."
They make no sense. - addakorn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Small laser printer: 8.96W standby (not power saving mode, I was too impatient to wait for that), while printing: 616W!"
I can believe this. My lights dim whenever I print. - thegersh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3a small price to pay for nightly downloads
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Andwith that one sentence, covertbadger demonstated why he will die a virgin.
- 8177, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Ask any apple fanboy how to fix that.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Well, I agree it is expensive, but it is not like your computer is using full power all the time. So it is not quite that high.
But like I mentiioned below, it is amazing how many people leave their computers on 24/7, yet take silly measures to cut their electric bill for other ways that are far more uncomfortable for them - wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Ah, so the "on versus off" debate continues. I keep my computer on when I have active torrents, or need to do an time intensive job. At work we have to leave the CPUs on all the time at night so they can push out updates.
- encognito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21. Dump Your Landline - Savings $40/month or $480/year
***I can’t do this because I need a landline for DSL and my apartment’s intercom system. Moreover, I don’t know where he got $40/month when I have never paid more than $18/month.
2. Pay Your Bills Online - 5 Bills x $0.39 = $1.95/Month or $23.40/year
***I have paid my bills online for years. Who still writes checks and licks stamps?
3. Downgrade Your Cell Phone Plan - $10/Month or $120/year
***I went one better, got a prepaid phone plan and a cheap cell for $33 bucks. I used to have a Motorola StarTac with a $40/month minimum bill. I was losing at least $400 dollars a year compared to my new setup.
4. Turn Off Your Computer - $5-$10/Month or $60-$120/year
***We already went over this one. Moreover, the money you save by downloading movies and music for free at night negates the savings from turning off your computer.
5. Unplug that Cell Phone Charger
***Good tip but how much money can you save to make this worthwhile? I smell an experiment!
6. Share Your Wireless - $20/Month or $240/Year
***Are people going to pay you a discounted rate? How would you arrange such payment?
7. Don’t Buy the Shiny New iPod
***This can be said for just about any product. You are almost always better off not being an early adopter. But the real way to save money is to not buy at all. No one saves money by spending money on liabilities.
8. Don’t Print Your Digital Photos - $50/Year
***Good point.
9. You think 99 cents is cheap for a song?
***It’s all about P2P and the library. You can’t beat free.
10. Go Shopping in Your Underwear
***Duh! - tavisjohn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4There is a router that supports having a USB hard drive connected to it and it will download your Torrent files for you.
- frukt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The question is whether you save more by turning your machine off every night OR by not having to replace expensive components due to excessive strain from turning them on and off on a daily basis. How often do you hear of hardware failing in the middle of operation - it's always when switching them on, be it a CPU, HDD or monitor.
- dext3r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Dude, its a computer, not a human. It doesn't need a 'break'. Its not unionized.
- pen25, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1theres several things one can do. get a mini-itx or cheap laptop for the downloads and get a kvm to use a single monitor/keyboard/mouse. or use remote desktop. then take your main pc and hybernate it when not being used and turn off the monitor. a min booting no big. i just scored a couple older laptops 2 t22's i plan on turning one of them into my sme server and turn off the amd duron 900 server with 1.5 TB and throw the 2 drives into a usb case and the second one use for torrents. i also have a mini-itx 800 which i could use as well.. anyway the point being is it might save a bit of cash. i have 3 computers runing 24x7 ones a 2.6cell ones a 3.0 prescott and the server. if i can cut two of them down i can save some money.
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