how much does it cost to run a basic computer 24/7

[OS]

so how much per month does it cost to run a basic semi modern computer 24/7 w/o monitor?

 

[bandana163]

1$/day or so?

 

[wfbberzerker]

i remember hearing something like 8 or 12 bucks a month. without monitor should be less.

 

[Ornery]

How do I find out how much electricity something uses?

• 150 watts - Desktop Computer & Monitor
  
  15-30 watts - Desktop Computer & Monitor (in sleep mode)

Computer use in particular

• I work for a company that has over 100 computers in it's offices and production areas. One of our MIS people tells me that is is not a good idea to turn our computers off during the night and on weekends because it puts extra stress on them to turn them off and on, that you are shortening the life of a computer and monitor by repeatedly starting it. Do you know if this is actually true? -- Janet Smith, April 2003
  
  Your MIS people are wrong. You're not going to wear out your computers prematurely by cycling them off/on overnight and on weekends.
  Yes, you might wear out a computer by turning it on and off all the time, but doing it once a day is nothing. (By the way, I did technical support at Apple Computer for five years, so I have a background in troubleshooting computer hardware.)
  
  And as you know, all devices eventually wear out after running for a long period of time. Keeping your computer on constantly means it's running three times longer than normal. This extra running time is at least as likely to wear out your computer as turning it off at night. For the monitor, it'll definitely wear out quicker by keeping it on rather than turning it off.
  
  Even if turning a computer off once a day shortened its overall life by a few days, it wouldn't pay to keep it on all the time. Your hundred computers are costing your company several hundred to several thousand dollars a year in energy costs if they're not being turned off at night.
  
  If a computer is used from 8:00 to 5:00 on weekdays, then it's not being used for 16 hours a day during the work week, and 48 hours for the weekend. That's a total of 64 hours a week, or 3328 hours a year. At an estimated 25 watts/hr. in sleep mode, that's 3328 x 25 = 83,200 watts/year, or 83 kilowatts. At $0.10 a kilowatt, that's $8.32/year.
  
  That's for just one computer. For a hundred computers it would be $832/year. If the computers aren't in sleep mode, then at 150 watts/hr. it's more like $4,992/year.
  
  And then there are the hidden costs. Computers generate heat, and your company is paying a pretty penny for air conditioning to remove all the heat generated by computers that should be off when they're not being used. And if the AC doesn't run overnight and on weekends, running the computers in a hot environment will do more to shorten their lives than turning them off once a day.
  
  Bottom line: Turn your computers off at night, and don't worry about it.
  
  Here are some articles with more detailed information on this topic:
  • How Stuff Works: Whether to turn off?
  • Mean Time Between Failure vs. Mean Cycles Between Failure
  • MonitorWorld: How can I maximize the life of my monitor?

 

[RossMAN]

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