• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

cost of electricity

D

drwoo123

Member
I had a linux box running 24 / 7 / 365 until my father started complaining about the electric bill. For those people who live in Long Island, NY - how much does it cost you month to month to run you box.


thanks in advance
tarique
 
largely depends on how much hardware you had running in the box. You didn't have the monitor on the entire time did you?
 
well i don't know about NY, but here in CA... me and my roommates basically kept 2 computers on 24/7 all the time. our bill comes out to about 40-50 a month at .11589 per kw/h. we keep a tv or two on most of the day along with lights and 1 fridge. no ac or heating.
 
i mean i can calculate also theoretically - but im wondering for someone who has actually used it in NY - i definately do NOT leave the monitor on 24/7 - but was hoping for something more along the lines of maybe 10-15 bux / month for the machine - i think perhaps I am being too optimistic. - anyhow - if there is a way to reduce costs - ideas away.
 
Post your system specs. There's a world of power usage difference amongst different setups. Also, is your system active throughout day and night? I mean, are there down/up loads going on, php/asp processing, or what?
 
its an older machine - athlon thunderbird 800 / 512 RAM / 40 gig hard drive - i have to check on the wattage for the powersupply but i think it was 300W - as far as load on the system - its minimal - me and a few friends use it for some webhosting - and some coding - noting serious.

btw - the machine has no sound card or speakers - so no energy lost there
 
anyhow I think it won't be too significant since its on going current.

The fridge and air-conditioning / heating already offsets everything significantly 🙁
 
Originally posted by: AtTheGates
Say the computer uses an average of 100 watts. 100 W / 1000 hr * 24 * 365 * $0.11 = $96.36
Click to expand...

100 watts is way too low IMO. A more realistic value would be about at least 300 to 500W depending on the configuration of the system.

EDIT: Seems like I have overestimated the power draw of PCs...
 
does the system actually draw the full power of the PS - ie if the PS is 300 - will it be pulling 300 24x7?

that would just be a lot of power no?
 
That 100W figure probably isn't too far off for a typical setup-- not every component in the case will be running all out 24/7. When I stopped running my PC 24/7 folding/SETI/etc, I saw my power bill drop around $10 a month. With a minimal load like you're talking about, you'll probably see something similar due to higher price per kw.
 
Originally posted by: drwoo123
does the system actually draw the full power of the PS - ie if the PS is 300 - will it be pulling 300 24x7?

that would just be a lot of power no?
Click to expand...

I am not a expert at this but I believe the "300W" rating of the PS is just the max output of all the rails combined. The energy input of the PS is much higher due to energy wastage during power conversion. Assuming your 300W PS has a efficiency rating of 70% and if your PS is fully loaded your total power draw is actually (300/70) x 100 = about 430W.

This still doesn't include the power draw of the monitor, speakers etc.

However I must stress that not all the components are utilised to the maximum during typical use so the typical power draw should be significantly lower.
 
So it's an older system. I would give a figure around 40 - 80 watts unloaded but active. I base this from my recent experience with a Kill A Watt meter, a device that measures real-tiime watts. The exact number is hard to give, but it's far less than 100 watts that's for sure.
 
As vegetation pointed out, my estimate of 100 watts was probably high. Look at this article at Tom's. Even cutting edge systems with a 6800 Ultra do not draw 300 watts under full load. I don't know the current cost of electricity in NY but whatever it is your costs is going to be < $10 per month.
 
I am from some where else and obviously the electricity bill would be much different.

Since there is a lot of debate here on the calculation, can someone just give me a MIN and MAX of watts per day turning on a PC. Note that LCD monitor is off all the time. Activitiy wise, downloading stuff.
 
well certain speakers use more at idle then others. supposedly the klipsch digital amps don't use much. dunno about the logitechs, those have big external heatsinks that always stay warm
 
This will figure it pretty close:

System energy consumption: not more than 100W (probably closer to 50W-75W) not counting the monitor (a 300W PS does not mean the system pulls anywhere even close to 300W!) According to Dell lab tests, a "typical" PC consumes 47.3W - although what Dell considers "typical" is anybody's guess.

A PC will pull it's max watts right at power-on and bootup. Having looked through several threads that discussed this topic extensively, the consensus was a modern PC (Athlon, P4) with one hard drive, maybe 2 PCI cards, and a mid-range CPU will pull about 80W-100W when idle. A 17" CRT will pull about 75W more. This is coming from people who like to stick their multimeters everywhere they can...

-ANYWAY-

Long Island Power Authority Consumer rates: ~$0.13 kWh (it varies from $0.12 - $0.13 depending on how much you use every month)

100W x 24 hours = 2.4kW x $0.13 = ($0.31 / day) x 31 days = ($9.67 / month) x 12 = ($116.06) / year

  • 100W = $9.67 / month
    75W = $7.25 / month
    65W = $6.29 / month
    50W = $4.84 / month

If your dad is a resonable person, just sit down with him when he gets the power bill, show him the electricity rate (kWh), and explain that your PC uses the same as a 100W lightbulb. If he doesn't realize what that adds up to in dollar terms, just do the math for him, flip him a $10, and tell him to relax! Ten bucks is probably too much, but as long as he understands that, then you should have no problems.

Is it worth $10/month to you to keep your Linux box running 24/7?

Useless Fact

I'm working in China right now, and the electricity here costs ~$0.06 / kWh - of course, that only applies when the electricy is WORKING!
 
much appreciation for all of the info - i dont think it should be a problem if its only 10 bux a month - i was under the impression that it was more like 40-50 bux a month - which means the energy culprit was not the PC.


thanks for all ur help people
 
well certain speakers use more at idle then others. supposedly the klipsch digital amps don't use much. dunno about the logitechs, those have big external heatsinks that always stay warm
Click to expand...

No PC speaker system is going to accumulate a noticable charge on your electric bill. The amplifiers' quiescent demand is quite miniscule in comparison to say a true class A amplifier!

Cheers!
 
The power consumption of PCs varies hugely.

Mine (an Athlon 2500, Radeon9700, 2 7k2 HDDs and 2 optical drives) is currently using 125W. If I run something like UT2k4 then this goes up to about 145W.

Dell's 'average' PC uses about 40W - I'm not sure what type of system that is, but it is probably a business-oriented 'light' desktop (integrated graphs, 5400 rpm drive, Celeron or Pentium III type CPU).

Idle power may also be significant - Dell claims 2.7W of standby 'flea power' consumption - but all my PCs use between 15-20W as flea power (maybe enermax PSUs aren't very efficient during standby).

Basically, $20/month is likely to cover 1 month of 24/7 usage including monitor for a typical PC and monitor (as long as you don't have too many peripherals like scanners, printers, external HDDs and stuff). If you have a lot of periphs, then these could add as much as $10/month, particularly if they all use 'pregnant plug' type power adaptors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top