Wattmeter - computer: yikes!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

e9999

e9999

Gotta get out there...
Moderator
10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Sep 20, 2003
Threads
1,087
Messages
19,241
Location
US
I'm still running a couple of old desktops with CRT displays.

One of them recently lost the ability to go on auto hibernation. Dang Windows...
So I have to turn it off manually now or it stays on 24/7.

So I put a wattmeter on one of them to see how bad the electricity bill would be for 24/7. Yikes! if the desktop and CRT run 24/7, at my PRK rate of 28c/kWh, it would cost me $600 in electricity per year... At that rate, I could buy a new laptop every year over running the old dinosaur...

Sheesh.... If I didn't have so much crap on there....
 
e9999 said:
I'm still running a couple of old desktops with CRT displays.

One of them recently lost the ability to go on auto hibernation. Dang Windows...
So I have to turn it off manually now or it stays on 24/7.

So I put a wattmeter on one of them to see how bad the electricity bill would be for 24/7. Yikes! if the desktop and CRT run 24/7, at my PRK rate of 28c/kWh, it would cost me $600 in electricity per year... At that rate, I could buy a new laptop every year over running the old dinosaur...

Sheesh.... If I didn't have so much crap on there....
Click to expand...

2 amp load is low for a desktop and monitor Just say'n
 
LandCruiserPhil said:
2 amp load is low for a desktop and monitor Just say'n
Click to expand...

I have no idea what that means. With both the desktop and the CRT on it sucks close to 300W, so something like 2.5A at 120V. And it's a big powerful clunky machine with a beefed up fan and with a huge CRT. I don't think a consumer-grade computer would draw much more than 300W. Are you saying that is on the low side? A modern laptop will be like 50W.
 
e9999 said:
I have no idea what that means. With both the desktop and the CRT on it sucks close to 300W, so something like 2.5A at 120V. And it's a big powerful clunky machine with a beefed up fan and with a huge CRT. I don't think a consumer-grade computer would draw much more than 300W. Are you saying that is on the low side? A modern laptop will be like 50W.
Click to expand...

Laptop desktop = apple orange
Not uncommon to see a 500watt+ power supply in todays desktop, wonder why:hhmm:
 
well, they've had big power supplies in desktops for ages. Doesn't mean that they are running at that max power all the time. My figures are averages when the computer is on, that is processor cranking and not, HD on and not etc.

But anyway, OK, so some computers may be drawing even more than mine. Not surprising. So more than $600 a year here or in other areas with similar rates.

So that would be YIKES! all in caps then... :)


Point is: you guys still running old dinosaurs with big CRTs: they gobble surprisingly large amounts of power so check your power bill and calculator and consider buying that new computer you always wanted, you may come out ahead...

I have a fairly recent top of the line at the time laptop that is probably 20x or 50x more powerful than the old desktop and it pulls only 75W or so at the most.
 
Last edited:
My primary box chews down around 320 watts + monitor. It runs 24x7 because it monitors the feedlot, barn and security cameras. I've thought of getting a low power Micro ITX mother board. Modern ones should have enough horsepower to easily keep up with the loads I'd be putting on it. I figured it would take me about 14 to 16 months to pay for the new system with power savings. I'd keep my old primary box around for when I want to edit images, videos or play first person shooter type games. Otherwise I'd use the low power system for web surfing, etc.. I'd go for a laptop except I use an 8 port video capture card.

A big power savings for those old PCs would be to get them LED backlit monitors. I wouldn't be surprised if you could save over 100 watts right there. I already have large LCD monitors, but they aren't LED backlit. The one I'm using now is about 100 Watts when showing a 1080p movie. It drops to around 70 Watts when the image is relatively static.
 
have you figured what yours is costing you?
What is making this expensive for me is the screwy tariff system we have in the PRK. Lowest tier is something like 12c/kWh but it goes up quickly with consumption. I'm in the 28c or so range so that makes a big difference.

A CRT will use up quite a bit more than an equivalent size LCD I believe but the LCDs are getting bigger all the time. Not that I'd use it as a computer monitor but our 42" TV pulls around 200W IIRC.
 
Computer alone is roughly $588 a year. I have a high base service fee, but my effective rate is around $0.21 kWh +/-0.02. It varies month to month based on the source of their power.
 
isn't it crazy that we could easily spend a new laptop's cost worth of electricity to run a computer a year...?
it's like spending enough gas on an old clunker to buy a new car every year....
 
My SIL paid off her Prius in less than three years on gas savings alone.
 
e9999 said:
isn't it crazy that we could easily spend a new laptop's cost worth of electricity to run a computer a year...?
it's like spending enough gas on an old clunker to buy a new car every year....
Click to expand...

Well, your computer isn't worth much without juice!. Now you know why data centers want lower power chips and servers...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom