Computer= high electric bill?

[DAICA]

My roomates are telling me that running my computer for 5hrs a day is killing our electricity bill. Every month it seems to go higher and higher. What I need to know is how much, dollar wise, if a computer was running 300 watts max an hr, how much power would it consume. I know that a 300w power supply does not go full speed at that power at any point. So I need to know how much it would cost any hr to run just the computer and a 19" monitor. Any close $ estimate would be greatly appreciate. So give me your best guesstimate.

thanks

 

[vetplus40]

Your energy costs are calculated in kilowatt hours.These costs vary significantly across the country.For the most part,this is affected by the type of generating station producing your electricity.During the winter,electricity bills will increase.Your biggest energy users are 220 volt appliances,such as water heaters,stoves,electric heaters,and clothes dryers.Tell your roomies to back down the thermostat,and shorten the hot showers,your pc isnt the culprit.............

 

[Yossarian]

Interesting question, makes me curious about what I'm paying so here are my numbers.

Antec 300W PS, assume 200W average output (I'm not sure about this one)
Samsung monitor, normal consumption 120W, max 140W, assume 130W average.

I'm in Southern California. Energy costs are on a sliding scale, they determine a baseline amount of usage and the more you exceed that, the higher those kWh cost. On average though each kWh cost me $0.171 last month.

(30 days)*(5 hours/day)*(200W+130W)/(1000W/kW) = 49.5 kWh

(49.5 kWh)*($.171/kWh) = $8.46, or just over 6% of my monthly energy bill. No big deal. Even if my PS were putting out 300W all the time and monitor was at 140W, total bill would be $11.28. Leaving it on 24/7 at these max power numbers would cost $54.14, yikes.

Edit: I doubt it's your computer that's causing your spiraling bills. Do any of your roommates have one of those portable space heaters? I had one once that ran his all night, those things suck juice like crazy.

 

[FlippyBoy]

assuming that your computer is sucking ~250watts and your monitor is sucking ~200watts, then you'd be consuming ~450 watts. thats .45kilowatthours every hour. round to .5kwh for peripherals (speakers, printer, etc) and you're doing 12kwh a day, or 360kwh a month. multiply that by the cost of electricity in your area (it will say on your bill), and you've got how much it costs to keep your pc running 24/7 for a month.

but like vetplus said, im betting that its something else making your bill high.

 

[KouklatheCat]

I run three PCs 24/7/365 at my house and my bill in very tolerable. I was allways told that it is better to run your PC 24/7. I usually turn my monitors off and my speakers if I remember but that is about all.

 

[SsZERO]

Computers use approximately 900W to run...and you are billed by kilowatt-hours. A kW-hr is a drain of 1000W for 1 hour...and you can see the rate per kW-hr on your bill. IT's usually about 20-60 cents per kW hour, depending where you live. Say its 50 cents for one kW-hr and you use about 4.5 kW-hrs per day running your PC for 5 hours a day, the cost to run your computer is about $2.25 per day, or $67.50 per month.

-= SsZERO =-

 

[Rob9874]

Wow, this is something I need to look into. I'm in AZ, and this time of year when we run no heat or AC, my electric bill is around $55. Could this be mainly the cost of leaving my computer on 24/7?

Does anyone use power saving settings (turn off hard disks, stand by, hibernate)?

 

[KouklatheCat]

My electric bill, for a 1400 square foot house with 3 adults and one baby is about (on the high end) 90 bucks a month. That is with 3 PCs running 24/7/365.

 

[Amused]

You know, someone needs to measure this once and for all. No more educated guesses or estimations, but a computer hooked up directly to a meter to see how many KWhs it uses when active, and when running idle with the monitor on standby or off.

And then a break down for how many fans you have, type of processor, size and type of monitor etc...

 

[SsZERO]

Well, you got to look at your electric bill and see exactly what you are being charged per kW-hr...but even if you are only being charged like .15-.20 cents, leaving things on 24/7 will run up your bill by $10-$20 a month. If you really want to know how much power your computers are sucking up, go to radio shack and pick up a multimeter. Check the voltage first, then check the total amps being drawn by your whole system. Easiest way to do this is to plug your entire system into one power strip/surge suppressor, then have the multimeter wired inline between the wall outlet and the powerstrip. When you have the voltage and the amp, multiply them to get watts. Test the power drain when your pc is in power save mode...i.e. monitor is off, HD spins down, CPU duty cycle reduced, etc. Measure the amp drain there and multiply by voltage to get watts once again. Then all you do is figure how many hours per day your computer is in regular mode and power save mode...figure out the kW hour per day, then using your bill, figure out the actual cost to run them 24/7.

-= SsZERO =-

 

[Amused]

<< Well, you got to look at your electric bill and see exactly what you are being charged per kW-hr...but even if you are only being charged like .15-.20 cents, leaving things on 24/7 will run up your bill by $10-$20 a month. If you really want to know how much power your computers are sucking up, go to radio shack and pick up a multimeter. Check the voltage first, then check the total amps being drawn by your whole system. Easiest way to do this is to plug your entire system into one power strip/surge suppressor, then have the multimeter wired inline between the wall outlet and the powerstrip. When you have the voltage and the amp, multiply them to get watts. Test the power drain when your pc is in power save mode...i.e. monitor is off, HD spins down, CPU duty cycle reduced, etc. Measure the amp drain there and multiply by voltage to get watts once again. Then all you do is figure how many hours per day your computer is in regular mode and power save mode...figure out the kW hour per day, then using your bill, figure out the actual cost to run them 24/7.

-= SsZERO =- >>



Hey, you know how to do all this...

I volunteer you to figure this out

 

[SsZERO]

It is different for everyone...so there can't be one definitive source...you can only get a rounded average of how much power a computer system uses...if you want to know, you'll have to measure everything yourself.

-= SsZERO =-



<< You know, someone needs to measure this once and for all. No more educated guesses or estimations, but a computer hooked up directly to a meter to see how many KWhs it uses when active, and when running idle with the monitor on standby or off.

And then a break down for how many fans you have, type of processor, size and type of monitor etc... >>

 

[SsZERO]

Well, you can pick up a multimeter from radio shack for about $30-$40. It's actually a handy tool to have.

-= SsZERO =-



<< Hey, you know how to do all this...

I volunteer you to figure this out >>

 

[DAICA]

holy cow, we got 3 rooms in this apartment and everyone has a space heater.
last month was the most i ever seen our electric bill at, it was $191 for a 3 bedroom apartment. btw i live in dallas.
so leaving a computer on for a few hrs a day is minescule.
whew, at least i have some idea that this computer is not sucking $50 out of my pockets every month.

thx

 

[jhu]

you live in dallas and you have a space heater? wus!

 

[Yossarian]

Dallas gets pretty cold in the winter. It even snows a couple times.

 

[chaddeus]

<< Computers use approximately 900W to run...and you are billed by kilowatt-hours. A kW-hr is a drain of 1000W for 1 hour...and you can see the rate per kW-hr on your bill. IT's usually about 20-60 cents per kW hour, depending where you live. Say its 50 cents for one kW-hr and you use about 4.5 kW-hrs per day running your PC for 5 hours a day, the cost to run your computer is about $2.25 per day, or $67.50 per month.

-= SsZERO =- >>




No Way a computer would run 900w per hr UNLESS you maybe talking about those Rack servers. Average PC would take cost about $18 per month if you on 24hrs for say 30 days in a month! Remember that you are not going to stare at the monitor 24hrs and your hard disk, CDROM and all those devices aren't working at their peak so power consumption would be lower.

- Charles

 

[Lokan]

I have a one bedroom apartment that my fiancee and I share. We have in this place 2 pc's (same as listed rig), and xbox, ps2, gamecube, psx, dreamcast, saturn, nes, snes, genesis, 2 vcr's, 5 disc dvd player, tivo, 27" sony vega, 25" sanyo tv, 600w receiver, 5 disc cd player, full size stereo system, a gazillion fans, many more electrics, AND an AC that keeps my hiz-ot azz near 70ish! My most expensive bill last year was $136. I turned my PC's off last year for a month solid and my power bill ROSE. We attributed it to the lowering of the AC by a whole two degree's.

What does that mean? I leave my PC on 24/7 and just kill the monitor. Tell yer friends to raise the AC if they're pissy about the powerbill

 

[SsZERO]

Monitor:
2 amps * 120 volts = 240 Watts

Computer:
3.5 amps * 120V = 420 Watts

Accesories (speakers, net switch, hub):
2 amps * 120V = 240 Watts

Total = 900 Watts

This is for my computer...the actual power consumption can and will fluctuate somewhat depending on what your computer is doing...but for an average value, 800-1000W is normal. Surprised? Check the back of your devices for their ampere requirements...multiply by 120V to get the watts. May be less than mine, may be more...but think about it, why would a device that doesn't use a lot of power be ENERGY STAR compliant? You got your fridge, A/C and now Computer? Hmmmmm.....




<< No Way a computer would run 900w per hr UNLESS you maybe talking about those Rack servers. Average PC would take cost about $18 per month if you on 24hrs for say 30 days in a month! Remember that you are not going to stare at the monitor 24hrs and your hard disk, CDROM and all those devices aren't working at their peak so power consumption would be lower.

- Charles >>

 

[SsZERO]

The amount of your bill doesn't indicate that power consumption of all these devices...power companies' rates vary a lot from place to place. But you are right in saying that heating and cooling devices require the most amount of power to operate, and are representative of the majority of your electric bill. Even a few degrees makes a difference...you can save even more money by getting a high-quality thermostat which will regulate temps more accurately.

-= SsZERO =-



<< I have a one bedroom apartment that my fiancee and I share. We have in this place 2 pc's (same as listed rig), and xbox, ps2, gamecube, psx, dreamcast, saturn, nes, snes, genesis, 2 vcr's, 5 disc dvd player, tivo, 27" sony vega, 25" sanyo tv, 600w receiver, 5 disc cd player, full size stereo system, a gazillion fans, many more electrics, AND an AC that keeps my hiz-ot azz near 70ish! My most expensive bill last year was $136. I turned my PC's off last year for a month solid and my power bill ROSE. We attributed it to the lowering of the AC by a whole two degree's.

What does that mean? I leave my PC on 24/7 and just kill the monitor. Tell yer friends to raise the AC if they're pissy about the powerbill >>

 

[Nack]

DAICA,

Sounds like your roommates are just being petty. Next time they complain, flip them a $10 bill, and tell them to shaddup for a month. Better yet, suggest that everyone stop using the space heaters for one month, and see if the bill goes down.

It sounds like you might actually be better off to 86 the space heaters, and use the furnace. Might be cheaper?

Nack

 

[jteef]

The winter months are not so bad, but consider that when you're running the air conditioner, you are paying for that power twice. And even more than that since i've yet to run across a 100% efficient air conditioner.

jt

 

[serialb]

<< Computer:
3.5 amps * 120V = 420 Watts
>>



SsZero, you measured it yourself, right? What kind of PSU are you using? I always thought most power supplies don't consume what they spec'd. Unless they consume more than what their output is. :frown:

serialb

 

[ukDave]

<< Computers use approximately 900W to run...and you are billed by kilowatt-hours. A kW-hr is a drain of 1000W for 1 hour...and you can see the rate per kW-hr on your bill. IT's usually about 20-60 cents per kW hour, depending where you live. Say its 50 cents for one kW-hr and you use about 4.5 kW-hrs per day running your PC for 5 hours a day, the cost to run your computer is about $2.25 per day, or $67.50 per month.

-= SsZERO =- >>




BS. Unless you running one hellova server of something. Thats just stinkin BS. 900W, pah!

 

[DHL]

<< Check the back of your devices for their ampere requirements...multiply by 120V to get the watts >>



I could be making a silly comment (I am no electrical engineer), but the power consumption of an AC device might not be as simple as P=VI if the load is not purely resistive. My final year electrical course reminded me something about a power factor of a device....However, I have no idea about the power factor of a ordinary PC PSU

Have a look at this PSU, using P=VI on the input voltage and current, the input power of EG365P-VE FCA >1000W, while using the output power and the efficiency, the maximum power draw would be about 500W. If EG365-VE FCA really take up 1000W and spit out only 365W, I definitely don't want this to heat up my PC

DHL