Cost of leaving my computer on 24x7

[enko]

I borrowed a Kill-A-Watt from the Ottawa library.

After 24 hours, the cost for leaving my computer on 24x7 is around 100$ a year.

I have a 480w PS, Athlon 3500, WD raptor, 2005FPW and 1705FP. It consumes around 180 watts of power from the wall.

In suspend mode it consumes 15w of power.

I plan on leaving it plugged in for another day or two to try and get better accuracy on the measurements.

[mrfrostyman]

thanks for the info, i have always wondered how much it was. So i guess running a computer is less than leavin an incandesant bulb turned on to light the room?

[BillsFan]

I hear it's better to leave it on all day so that your hard drive isn't constantly being re-powered.

[spider]

I borrowed a Kill-A-Watt from the Ottawa library.

After 24 hours, the cost for leaving my computer on 24x7 is around 100$ a year.

I have a 480w PS, Athlon 3500, WD raptor, 2005FPW and 1705FP. It consumes around 180 watts of power from the wall.

In suspend mode it consumes 15w of power.

I plan on leaving it plugged in for another day or two to try and get better accuracy on the measurements.

more info on program

http://www.envirocentre.ca/english/PowerPlay.htm

Very interesting....I have stopped leaving my computer on all the time. What price did you use to figure out that cost ? 10cents ?

look at these prices coming our way.

http://www.envirocentre.ca/english/europe.htm

Most households in Ottawa are now paying a little over 10 cents per kWh for their electricity. Compare that to:

13.9 in the United Kingdom

17.9 in Spain

19.4 in France

28.5 in Germany

32.0 in Italy

37.4 in Denmark

These amounts include all taxes and other charges and were converted from euros to Canadian cents at March 2005 rates. They are based on 2004 Euro Stats, as reported in the March 2005 edition of the French magazine Nouvel Observateur.

[Max_Dealing]

You have been reading the papers to much. Yes power maybe lower but take everything into account and you will see.

So if leaving your computer on does not consume a significant amount of power, what about the life span of the computer always on?

Also can anyone borrow a killer meter? I would like to know how much everything consumes in my house :D

[gr8dlr]

I didn't think the library would lend this sort of device - do they?

[IceMan77]

You can leave your computers on during the winter and use it as a mini-heater :D

[cwb27]

I hear it's better to leave it on all day so that your hard drive isn't constantly being re-powered.


This was the case back 15-20 years ago. Powering up/down hard drives do little to decrease the life of the device.

[xwar]

i can't live without leaving my pc on ... all my media streams from it.

[416azn]

So your saying basically it only cost $100 more per year to have your computer on 24/7?

[enko]

My computer draws 200 watts with the speakers on (180 without). So it's like leaving two 100watt bulbs on all year long.

I'm not sure if the Toronto library rents out the meters, but yes, the Ottawa one does :)

What sucks is that I leave THREE computers on 24x7 :)

I'll start to suspend my PC. One is a server and there's no way I can turn it off, it hosts my mail and webmail and some other web utils I use from work or on the road, and it downloads all my torrents.

I think I figured it at like 8 cents/kWh. I'm going to re-do it over the weekend on my server which is a 430w PS, Athlon 2500 and 4 hard drives.

[i2mfan]

I turn off the unused computer(HTPC when no recording scheduled) but let the server on 24/7 for seeding my torrents from my website.

But I do turn off the monitor(19inch CRT in my case). You should take that into account in your test because I'm sure that you sleep and don't need the monitor. Don't you? ;)

[mark_in_2k]

My computer draws 200 watts with the speakers on (180 without). So it's like leaving two 100watt bulbs on all year long.Your speakers won't be drawing any power if there is no sound coming out of them, even if they are switched on.

[enko]

Your speakers won't be drawing any power if there is no sound coming out of them, even if they are switched on.

Tell that to the watt meter.

[enko]

I turn off the unused computer(HTPC when no recording scheduled) but let the server on 24/7 for seeding my torrents from my website.

But I do turn off the monitor(19inch CRT in my case). You should take that into account in your test because I'm sure that you sleep and don't need the monitor. Don't you? ;)

My monitors go to sleep after 10 minutes. So yeah, they will be included on my desktop PC test. I have the power bar plugged into the watt meter so everything is included. In suspend with both monitors "on" but asleep it's like 15-18 watts so that's pretty good if you ask me!

For my server I'm only including the actual box, since the monitor is not needed, everything is done remotely pretty much.

[Nubee]

Your speakers won't be drawing any power if there is no sound coming out of them, even if they are switched on.

If they're not drawing power then they wouldn't turn on at all.

[isleepinadrawer]

can you test how much power speakers draw when they're turned on but not playing anything

[Max_Dealing]

I am soo going to try this out. If I ever get around to it :cheesygri

Every computer will be different but knowing the truth will be awesome. Most people post their over clocking results in their sig's. I am going to have my power draw. :lol:

YOW

[trixR4kids]

I borrowed a Kill-A-Watt from the Ottawa library.

After 24 hours, the cost for leaving my computer on 24x7 is around 100$ a year.

I have a 480w PS, Athlon 3500, WD raptor, 2005FPW and 1705FP. It consumes around 180 watts of power from the wall.

In suspend mode it consumes 15w of power.

I plan on leaving it plugged in for another day or two to try and get better accuracy on the measurements.

this incluedes the electric gas price from this year?

u must be downloading a lot fo stuff if u leave it on 24/7

[BadDrafter]

Is there something similar to this in Alberta?

How much does leaving a 3 HP treadmill plugged in (not running) cost.

My energy bill is $180/mo and I am looking to cut it down to normal person levels.

[enko]

Is there something similar to this in Alberta?

How much does leaving a 3 HP treadmill plugged in (not running) cost.

My energy bill is $180/mo and I am looking to cut it down to normal person levels.


This is why you need the meter. You can find out how much phantom power appliances draw - power when they are "off" (but they still draw power)

A good example are TV's, DVD players, etc. When they are off they are still consuming power.

[CanadaBoy]

I didn't think the library would lend this sort of device - do they?

The Streetsville library in Mississauga has these.

You also get two free CFEL lightbulbs :)

[WLJ101]

that old library has it?!?! OMG.

[goofball]

If you're willing, you could go to Canadian Tire and buy this for $24.99 + tax

http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/images/Assortments/PrimaryAssortments/HomeCareDecor/Electrical/Testers/0528851_450_CC_3e19f.jpg

Works like Kill-A-Watt or the Seasonic Power Angel. Only caveat is that if you use the batteries that are included, the unit does not turn off so the batteries will drain themselves dead.

[Daijoubu]

Evil RFD'ers can always "borrow" it from CT and returning it withing 30 days :twisted:
Did you enable Cool&Quiet on your AMD?
Also, peoples should using buying power supply providing more power that they need, the efficiency is better, say if you draw 200W off an 300W PS rather than an 500W ;)

[enko]

I just finished a 2-day reading on my server. It's a 2500XP, 9600XT, three hard drives (all 7200rpm), and a 430 or 450W power supply (Antec)

It drew around 90 watts of power. Averaged 2.1 kilowatthours.

So you can figure out how much it costs by

2.1 * (cost per kWh) * 365

At 0.08$ per kWh it works out to around 60 bucks for a year. Not bad. Worth it for how much I use my server.

I got a renewal on it so I'm going to test my Celeron 366 machine in my room this week.

[cipher]

I wonder how much power a Pentium M would save. I want to build a HT PC based on a Pentium M to save power.

[cliff]

The Streetsville library in Mississauga has these.

You also get two free CFEL lightbulbs :)
Each branch in mississauga have 6~12 "Kill-a-watt" metres to loan at a given time (108 system wide).


My comp (2200+ two hd's) draws ~130 w, ~150 with the monitor on (17" lcd) peak was 158 under heavy (100% cpu) load.

[BadDrafter]

I wonder how much power a Pentium M would save. I want to build a HT PC based on a Pentium M to save power.

I'm wondering how much a core2 duo would shave off for me vs my opteron 165.

[ryan123]

so wat if u turn ur monitor off? and how about the speakers with no sound?

[enko]

so wat if u turn ur monitor off? and how about the speakers with no sound?

My monitor consumes about 25 watts of power.

Speakers are on or off. Pick one. Mine consume 10-15w of power when turned on.


I just measure my Celeron 366 (or is it 466). It consumes 55 watts of power :) The 2500 consumed 95 watts of power so... I'd guess this celeron to consume around 25$ a year in electricity.