How mach power do PCs use?
Most desktop computers use between 65 and 250 Watts. Laptops are less demanding and use between 15 and 45 Watts. LCD monitors can use 20 Watts while they're switched on. and even energy-efficient models can still use 2W while on standby. If you're still using an older CRT (cathode ray tube) monltor. It could be using as much as 80 Watts. The more work your PC is doing. the more power it will consume. 50 if you're using lots of peripherals or playing games. your power drain will be greater than if you’re just doing a bit of typing. If you're accessing the intemet. you'll be using more power because more devices and components are being used to send and receive the data.
Monitor your energy use
The figures above are just a rough guide.
To get a more accurate measure of how much electricity your PC uses. attach an energy monitor to your mains supply cable. This is very easy and perfectly safe. and you'll be able to see the power consumption of your computer the moment you turn on your PC. You'll also be able to work out how much electricity individual items use - such as your screen or printer. Some energy suppliers provide free monitors with certain tariffs. but you can buy one yourself. OWL (www.theowl.com) has a range of models, priced from around £28. Once you've measured your electricity consumption. you can work out how much you’re paying. See our Mini Workshop below for instructions on how to do this.
Speed up boot up
The main reason we fail to switch off our computers is that it takes a frustrating amount of time to start them up again. Reducing your PC's boot time will encourage other computer users in your household (usually the ones who don't pay the electricity bill) to switch the PC off when they've finished using it.
Start by uninstalling unwanted programs and removing clutter using a program such as CCleaner (www.piriform.com). Then defrag your hard disk using the built-in Windows disk defragmenter or a program such as Auslogics Disk Defrag Free (www.auslogics.com). Slow boot-ups are most commonly caused by a lot of extra programs launching alongside Windows. You can easily remove unwanted auto-starting items using the Startup manager in CCleaner. or a program such as WinPatrol (www.winpatrol.com). Replacing your current mechanical system drive with a much faster $50 will make a big difference and can cut boot up times from several minutes to a matter of seconds. Decent-sized 5505 are getting cheaper. and you can currently buy a 24068 Kingston Technology V300 drive from Amazon for £73. The other benefit of upgrading to an $50 is that they are far more energy efficient than traditional hard drives. A typical hard drive will consume around SW at peak load while an $50 will use less than 2W.
Turn off your screen
Old fashioned CRT monitors are rare nowadays. but if you still use one, it will be your biggest consumer of electricity by some margin. Modern flat screens are much better. but you should still get into the habit of switching off your monitor when you step away from your computer. Use the off switch rather than just letting it go into standby. Try turning the brightness down. too - you can usually get used to a darker screen fairly quickly. Screensavers were originally designed to protect your monitor from phosphor burn-in. which is a permanent ghostly image on the screen caused by a still image being displayed continuously for a long time. This is no longer an issue with modern monitors. so screensavers serve no real purpose beyond looking nice. Some of the fanciest screensavers can be very processor intensive. keeping your graphics hardware working and your monitor switched on, all of which wastes electricity.
Make use of power-saving plans
Windows comes with a comprehensive selection of fully customisable power plans. A balanced set-up will suit most users. but you can reduce overall energy consumption by switching to a power-saver plan instead. In windows 7, click Start. type Power Options into the box and press Enter. It's the same in Windows 8.x. except you need to type Power Options on the Start screen and press Enter.
No comments: