 How Much Does It Cost To Run My Computer? |
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 Aug 3 2006, 10:36 AM
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Member  Group: Members Posts: 86 Joined: 28-February 06 Member No.: 57,244  |
REGION First 900 kWh per annum* All other kWh Ex VAT Inc VAT Ex VAT Inc VAT LONDON 14.99p 15.74p 9.14p 9.60p THANKS A MILLION! |
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Aug 3 2006, 10:41 AM
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#2
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 Forum Addict Group: BC Advisor Posts: 2,651 Joined: 23-September 05 Member No.: 34,941 |
There is NO way of knowing for sure, NO formula for calculating for sure. But from estimates that I have read, the average computer and monitor cost $17 USD per month, or 2.5 cents per hour. Approx 150 watts per hour.
This cost could vary wildly depending upon usage and power saving settings. -------------------- ALBERT FRANKENSTEIN
I'M SO SMART IT'S SCARY! There's 3 types of people in this world - those who are good at math, and those who are not. DID I HELP? PLEASE CONSIDER A SMALL DONATION VIA PAYPAL. THANK YOU. |
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Aug 3 2006, 11:53 AM
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#3
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 Forum Addict Group: BC Advisor Posts: 1,875 Joined: 25-November 04 From: Finland Member No.: 5,870 |
The PSU output is not constant but varies as the load of the computer varies. Then you have to factor in the efficiency of the PSU which varies depending on the load the PSU is under. Add to that that you presumably got a monitor, speakers, a modem, maybe a router, possibly a printer and so on, which also eat varying amounts of power. The you have to factor in the temperature in which all of this operates as that will impact their efficiency and so increase the power draw. Of course you can't forget the biggest factor, how you use the computer: What you do with it, when and how you leave all that stuff on and so so.
What you have to do if you want to find out is this: Get a watt meter and plug in in between the wall socket and the computer/monitor/modem/speakers. With the help of it you can tell how much power you've used in a month. -------------------- "Anyone who cannot form a community with others, or who does not need to because he is self-sufficient [...] is either a beast or a god." Aristotle
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ | ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe | 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO | Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX | Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS | ASUS PhysX P1 | Logitech G15 | Logitech MX Revolution | LG Flatron L2000C | Logitech Z-5500 Digital Stubborn attempts to think clearly |
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Aug 3 2006, 07:30 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 86 Joined: 28-February 06 Member No.: 57,244 |
cant be asked now. Had an argument with my dad now i cant leave the computer on all night. I was planing to do alot of downloading
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Aug 3 2006, 09:54 PM
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#5
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 Forum Addict Group: HJT Team Posts: 2,363 Joined: 13-September 04 From: SE Wisconsin, US Member No.: 2,698 |
As long as you turn the monitor off (you don't need that on for downloading), the cost should be no more than leaving a couple of 100 watt lights on. Figure .2 - .25 KWHrs/Hr.
-------------------- Derfram
~~~~~~ If I have been of help, please consider a donation to the Humane Animal Welfare Society or your local equivalent. |
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Aug 3 2006, 10:45 PM
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#6
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arachibutyrophobia Group: BC Advisor Posts: 4,956 Joined: 4-March 05 From: Northern CA. Member No.: 13,532 |
One variable that wasn't mentioned previously is the fact that your computer and monitor will hibernate when they are inactive. It will continue to use a small amount of electricity.
There is a procuts call Kill A Watt that plugs into the receptacle, and you computer plugs into it and reads watts, or kilowatts. http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/sm/el...ity_monitor.asp Once you have the kilowatts that you use just multiply that times your local kilowatt per hour figure. Yes, a computer can be left unattended for long periods of time, but if it isn't working at folding or something useful, why leave it on? Every device in your house that has a low voltage control, LCD, or LED display is constantly using a small amount of electricity which adds up. Even you TV, you're probalby way too young to remember waiting for the TV to warm up, now days it pops on in an instant, that's because it never really turns off. It all adds up. -------------------- Lord, may we please have a little more chlorine in the gene pool?
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Aug 3 2006, 10:54 PM
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#7
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 Distinguished Member Group: BC Advisor Posts: 928 Joined: 24-June 06 From: Pace University - New York City Campus Member No.: 73,266 |
A computer or monitor (and many other household electronics) use about 40% of their normal power in stand-by mode. If you need to leave your computer on for downloading, turn on a distributed computing program so all those unused computer processes don't go to waste, there are several available such as Seti@Home, Folding@Home, D2OL (personal favorite), and FightAIDS@Home just to name a few. But just leaving it on doing nothing isn't a good thing to do.
This post has been edited by DJBPace07: Aug 3 2006, 10:58 PM --------------------  |
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Aug 4 2006, 05:34 AM
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#8
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Forum Addict Group: BC Advisor Posts: 1,875 Joined: 25-November 04 From: Finland Member No.: 5,870 |
QUOTE(DJBPace07 @ Aug 4 2006, 06:54 AM)  If you need to leave your computer on for downloading, turn on a distributed computing program so all those unused computer processes don't go to waste, there are several available such as Seti@Home, Folding@Home, D2OL (personal favorite), and FightAIDS@Home just to name a few. But just leaving it on doing nothing isn't a good thing to do. Wasn't he after using as little power as possible? Those distributed computing programs leaves the computer running at full eating bucketloads of power. Shouldn't he have as little running as possible so he can take maximum usage out of power management features, like Cool & Quiet?
-------------------- "Anyone who cannot form a community with others, or who does not need to because he is self-sufficient [...] is either a beast or a god." Aristotle
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ | ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe | 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO | Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX | Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS | ASUS PhysX P1 | Logitech G15 | Logitech MX Revolution | LG Flatron L2000C | Logitech Z-5500 Digital Stubborn attempts to think clearly |
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Aug 4 2006, 05:49 PM
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#9
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Distinguished Member Group: BC Advisor Posts: 928 Joined: 24-June 06 From: Pace University - New York City Campus Member No.: 73,266 |
Some computer systems don't have power management features, especially if they are several years old. The computer is on anyway and all of the components are running, often with no power throttling. The amount of power being drawn by distributed computing programs is small; some dist. computing programs allow the user to set the amount of processing power they use. The user can simply set this low to maximize on energy efficiency if they want to save a little.
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