how much is my computer costing me?

[BKLounger]

So i was sitting there looking at my electricity bill wondering how I used so much and then thinking of my computers. I was wondering if anyone has a list of how much power certain machine use. Like 21" crt, regular desktop, laptop, 4u production server. Any idea how much energy they use and how much that might cost me?

 

[SirChadwick]

Not enough to make a post about it... that's for sure.

 

[Ika]

Do you use it 24/7?

 

[ElFenix]

buy a kill-a-watt and find out

 

[2Dead]

rent an apartment, and keep only your computer stuff plugged in, no other electrical appliances. At night, use a flash light to walk around. When you get the bill, you will know exactly how much.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
buy a kill-a-watt and find out

 

[lozina]

For me another thing to consider is how much heat my damn computer generates. It forces me to turn on the AC in my room even if it is a pretty nice comfortable day. AC costs alot

 

[SirChadwick]

Originally posted by: TrandM
rent an apartment, and keep only your computer stuff plugged in, no other electrical appliances. At night, use a flash light to walk around. When you get the bill, you will know exactly how much.

Yea, be sure not to use your A/C at all also... muhahahaha!

 

[dullard]

In the summer if you have your AC on, double the electricity cost. In the winter, if you heat your home, computers (and other appliances) are free to use because your heating bill is reduced by that amount.

 

[NissanGurl]

Well, if you were a business and use Dell I would say find out here:
Dell Datacenter Capacity Planner

Since I'm sure this is a home PC, you would probably need to check your components individually (find out from the maker).

 

[SlitheryDee]

You could check out a review of a similarly configured computer that includes idle and load power draw and use their numbers to get a ballpark figure of your power usage. That's the best thing I can think of short of measuring your actual power draw at the socket.

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

My Kill-a-watt says my Athlon computer + 19" lcd uses up 200 watts or so.

My laptop uses up around 110 watts.

 

[nsafreak]

One thing to keep in mind that the majority of the time your monitors take more juice than your PC does. So its a good idea to have the monitors go into standby after around 15 minutes or so of non use.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MillionaireNextDoor
My Kill-a-watt says my Athlon computer + 19" lcd uses up 200 watts or so.

My laptop uses up around 110 watts.

So figuring $.10 a kWh (that's about typical right? I'd have to look at my bill) you're looking at $.02 an hour to use it, or $.48 a day, or ~$15 a month. That's about what I figured. Electricity usage would be higher when you're using it and lower when you're not using it, especially if it's in standby mode where it uses very little power.

 

[duragezic]

Yeah you'll need to find ballpark numbers if you don't have a Kill-a-watt (very handy device, $20 or so). Find the power that each device uses. Then figure out how much each of the devices are on per day. Like a monitor should be going to low-power standby after 15-20min of non-use. I would say your computer by itself uses 100-150 W idling. If they are all on different amounts a day (say 24 hours for server, 12 hours for laptop and computer, and 5 hours for monitor) figure them out separately in kilowatts, multiply by your electricity rate in kWh, then multiply by about 30 for your monthly cost.

 

[Fenixgoon]

can't you just use math?

X watt PSU x 60 seconds x 60 minutes x 24 hours/day = X watt-hours /day (assuming maximum load on PSU)

+ watts from monitor, etc.

 

[The Batt?sai]

Originally posted by: lozina
For me another thing to consider is how much heat my damn computer generates. It forces me to turn on the AC in my room even if it is a pretty nice comfortable day. AC costs alot

same here!

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
can't you just use math?

X watt PSU x 60 seconds x 60 minutes x 24 hours/day = X watt-hours /day (assuming maximum load on PSU)

+ watts from monitor, etc.

The load on the PSU is rarely at its max capacity.