by 17 people |
Computers use electricity, which costs money.
Getting your PC to save electricity will save you money, so what are you waiting for?
Many people use computers every day, some people have a desktop at home, a laptop on the go and one in the office. By taking a look at the way the use it, a computer can be made cheaper, leaner and greener. For a laptop, this may also extend your time on the battery.
There are plenty of things you can do right now to save money and depending on how far you go you can make significant savings. Each one helps, but used in combination they add up to a faster, cooler , quieter and cheaper to run machine. These savings may not compare with winter heating bills, but they are enough to be worth investigating.
Look below for a number of tips ranging for those that every user can try to those only recommended for the absolutely passionate or geeky. Go as far as you want to.
Many people use computers every day, some people have a desktop at home, a laptop on the go and one in the office. By taking a look at the way the use it, a computer can be made cheaper, leaner and greener. For a laptop, this may also extend your time on the battery.
There are plenty of things you can do right now to save money and depending on how far you go you can make significant savings. Each one helps, but used in combination they add up to a faster, cooler , quieter and cheaper to run machine. These savings may not compare with winter heating bills, but they are enough to be worth investigating.
Look below for a number of tips ranging for those that every user can try to those only recommended for the absolutely passionate or geeky. Go as far as you want to.
Contents
- Keep the computer healthy
- Turn off the PC when not in use
- Plan your computer usage
- Thinking Rock
- Use your softwares power saving features
- Turn off peripherals
- US Power Saving Strips
- UK Power saving strips
- Using virtual machines
- More interesting changes
- Fanless Graphics Cards
- Fanless chipset cooler
- More computer tips
- Love This Lens?
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- Reader Feedback
- Links for saving power on your computer
- About Me
Keep the computer healthy
A healthy computer is a low power computer. If the computer is loaded down with viruses, weighed down with a really fragmented hard drive or has other hardware of software problems, you will take longer to do anything with it, and it will use more power.
Keep your computer virus free and it will shut down and start up quicker, the CPU and hard disk will be less busy, less heat will be generated and the fan will run less all of which will save you power and ultimately money.
Keep your computer virus free and it will shut down and start up quicker, the CPU and hard disk will be less busy, less heat will be generated and the fan will run less all of which will save you power and ultimately money.
Turn off the PC when not in use
The very simplest way to save money
This is a habit well worth getting into. Many PC's at home, or in an office are left on day and night. This uses a lot of unnecessary power.
Clearly this may be easier said than done when you have work that is on going.
Avoid starting more than one thing on the computer. Read below to see how and other reasons not to do this.
If you really can not bring yourself to shut everything down, familiarise yourself with the Hibernate options available on Windows, Linux and Mac software which will save a current session completely and shut down.
Clearly this may be easier said than done when you have work that is on going.
Avoid starting more than one thing on the computer. Read below to see how and other reasons not to do this.
If you really can not bring yourself to shut everything down, familiarise yourself with the Hibernate options available on Windows, Linux and Mac software which will save a current session completely and shut down.
Plan your computer usage
Plan to only do one thing at a time
You can save time and money on a computer by planning what you intend to do on it before turning it on.
Do not simply fill the desktop up with stuff you are in the middle of - you will not finish it that way.
Get into good planning habits. Save your files regularly, including "Work In Progress" copies if required, and then use a simple notepad (pen & paper) to note down your context so you can pick it up when you get back. Any person should be able to do this.
Set up a task, turn on the PC and get on with that task. When you have finished that, or need to do something else, write down what you need to do next with that particular task, and then save and close down all the associated programs.
Bookmark any related webpages instead of leaving tabs open, and if you know the browser well, group them into a folder. Firefox has a useful tool - if you right click on a tab, it allows you to "bookmark all tabs", which will group them into a bookmarks folder. Avoid relying on the Firefox setting to show all the last tabs open when restarting for all the reasons below.
Here are good reasons to get into this habit:
As having many programs open also taxes the CPU and memory more, it is worth understanding what happens to your computer when you have many, many programs open at once.
Good planning, and finishing up tasks, or writing down where you were and closing things so you can take them up again later, will prevent you running the risks highlighted here.
Do not simply fill the desktop up with stuff you are in the middle of - you will not finish it that way.
Get into good planning habits. Save your files regularly, including "Work In Progress" copies if required, and then use a simple notepad (pen & paper) to note down your context so you can pick it up when you get back. Any person should be able to do this.
Set up a task, turn on the PC and get on with that task. When you have finished that, or need to do something else, write down what you need to do next with that particular task, and then save and close down all the associated programs.
Bookmark any related webpages instead of leaving tabs open, and if you know the browser well, group them into a folder. Firefox has a useful tool - if you right click on a tab, it allows you to "bookmark all tabs", which will group them into a bookmarks folder. Avoid relying on the Firefox setting to show all the last tabs open when restarting for all the reasons below.
Here are good reasons to get into this habit:
- You will get more done and not simply procrastinate on the web. Although procrastinating on the web is actually quite good for ideas and relaxing at times, it is counter productive when you actually want to do something.
- By having many tasks on the go, you will loose track of what you have done, and may find that you have got very little achieved at all.
- The more things you are doing at once, the less easy it will be to close everything and shut down at the end of the session.
- Having many open documents means that you increase the amount of work lost if something goes wrong.
As having many programs open also taxes the CPU and memory more, it is worth understanding what happens to your computer when you have many, many programs open at once.
- Generally it raises the risk of instability - crashes and corrupted files, or lost work.
- Beware - programs open may have interactions you have not prepared for. This may seriously lower the computers stability and cause it to crash.
- CPU usage increases - this also reduces stability, and means that programs may start to pause (hang) or crash and break. The computer may become unresponsive. It will also drain more power on modern CPU's which normally "throttle" their speed, lowering it when lightly used. It will cause the CPU to heat up, meaning the fan will need to speed up, and the longevity of both the fan and CPU are reduced. Heat is usually a very bad thing in a computer case.
- Memory usage increases. The amount of RAM used will go up, and on modern systems a certain amount of this is actually "Virtual Memory", where things are temporarily written to a hard disk and then brought back into physical RAM when needed. This is known as paging, or swapping. The more memory you use, the more of this virtual memory is used. The more programs there are using virtual memory, the more often swapping will occur. This may mean that the hard disk becomes very busy - known as thrashing. It will drain power, lower stability, cause pauses and hangs, and also reduce the longevity of the hard drive and PC in general.
Good planning, and finishing up tasks, or writing down where you were and closing things so you can take them up again later, will prevent you running the risks highlighted here.
Thinking Rock
Software to aid planning
Thinking Rock is software that really allows quick and structured planning of your tasks.HOWTO: Use ThinkingRock to organise your thoughts.
It should be considered an essential part of freeing your computer to be switched off and not getting bogged down with 20+ tabs of stuff you might get round to reading someday.
Use your softwares power saving features
Linux, Windows and Mac OS X can all save power
Every recent system, be it Mac, Windows or Linux allow you to set up power saving features that will put monitors into standby (not as good as turning it off), spin down hard disks, throttle CPU speeds and slow fans. All of these things will save power. If you can, set the hibernate mode of the PC up so that you can use this to shut down without worrying too much about context. Set it to automatically turn off after an hour without usage or so. Take time to learn and familiarise yourself with these settings, and they will allow you to have a less power hungry, and quieter machine.
I also found that for Windows (XP or Vista, including x64) there is a piece of software known as Local Cooling. Local cooling automatically adjusts your Windows computers settings to optimal power saving settings. Ensure you check the settings, and take note of the hibernate/shutdown settings and adjust these to your taste.
I also found that for Windows (XP or Vista, including x64) there is a piece of software known as Local Cooling. Local cooling automatically adjusts your Windows computers settings to optimal power saving settings. Ensure you check the settings, and take note of the hibernate/shutdown settings and adjust these to your taste.
Turn off peripherals
All those extra bits use their own power, turn 'em off!
Peripherals like the monitor, printer, speakers, external drives and so on all drain power when turned on. Get into the habit of turning them off when the computer is off. Right at the wall socket, as even in standby they are drawing power.
Also get into the habit of turning them off when taking screen breaks. There is no use leaving the monitor on when away from the computer. One exception may be to leave the speakers on playing music while you are taking a break, but generally, you can turn it all off.
Removing CD/DVD's that are not in use from the drives is also a way to save power, as the computer will spin it up and check it from time to time when a disk is present, including on start up.
Find a surge master power strip with switches for all the sockets - the best will detect when the PC is turned off, and power down the other sockets. I use a Belkin Surge Master Model F5C100u, which is probably a bit ancient now and has no automatic switch off. It is an under-monitor socket array, with labelled sockets for monitor, printer, computer as well as an AUX1 and 2. On the front panel, right under the monitor is a bank of individual pushbutton toggles for these sockets. When I take a break, I can quickly flick off all but the computer. When required, turning off the PC itself is a doddle. The Surge Master comes with additional things like a lifetime guarantee, LED's to indicate when it is protected and earthed and a main power off button.
I have listed below some power saving strips that can automatically power down devices in standby mode.
Also get into the habit of turning them off when taking screen breaks. There is no use leaving the monitor on when away from the computer. One exception may be to leave the speakers on playing music while you are taking a break, but generally, you can turn it all off.
Removing CD/DVD's that are not in use from the drives is also a way to save power, as the computer will spin it up and check it from time to time when a disk is present, including on start up.
Find a surge master power strip with switches for all the sockets - the best will detect when the PC is turned off, and power down the other sockets. I use a Belkin Surge Master Model F5C100u, which is probably a bit ancient now and has no automatic switch off. It is an under-monitor socket array, with labelled sockets for monitor, printer, computer as well as an AUX1 and 2. On the front panel, right under the monitor is a bank of individual pushbutton toggles for these sockets. When I take a break, I can quickly flick off all but the computer. When required, turning off the PC itself is a doddle. The Surge Master comes with additional things like a lifetime guarantee, LED's to indicate when it is protected and earthed and a main power off button.
I have listed below some power saving strips that can automatically power down devices in standby mode.
US Power Saving Strips
Good power strips will prevent power surges and save power usage by powering down unused appliances or devices in standby. These are designed for US mains.
Smart Strip SCG3 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology
Amazon Price: $21.15 (as of 12/16/2009) 
P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor
Amazon Price: $34.91 (as of 12/16/2009)
Why there are two cables...
Electricity goes one way, and your money the other....
Top Pick
Smart Strip LCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Auto switching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection
Amazon Price: $32.30 (as of 12/16/2009)
This smart strip includes autoswitching technology for a very handy 10 outlets, and also has surge protection for Modem and Coaxial connections. It will save energy by turning off items that are in standby.
UK Power saving strips
Good power strips will prevent power surges and save power usage by powering down unused appliances or devices in standby.
Top pick
Belkin SurgeMaster Maximum Series - Surge suppressor - AC 250 V - 8 output connector(s) - United Kingdom
Amazon Price: (as of 12/16/2009)
For intelligent power saving strips, this is the best of the bunch.
Using virtual machines
Reduce multiple machines to just one
If you are a complete geek, you may by now have three or four PC's running different Operating systems and set up for different purposes. It is clearly good if you can save power by combining their functionality.I totally understand why someone would not want different environments to interfere with each other, and I do not mean installing everything you would ever want onto one Operating System which would quickly become bloated, bogged down and clogged.
I strongly suggest getting into Virtual Machines. These are programs which either emulate, or virtualise CPU's, BIOS's and a whole PC allowing you to install another OS in the Virtual Machine, stop and start it when needed, hibernate it relatively simply and all without much changes to the host system - the system that the Virtual Machine runs inside.
Terminology:
- Host OS - the operating system that the virtual PC runs inside
- Guest OS - the operating system that runs inside the virtual PC
- Emulation - When software creates a layer that runs exactly like a piece of hardware.
- Virtualisation - When software lightly wraps real hardware exposing it to the use of the guest OS. This is much faster than Emulation.
- Virtual Disks - A disk "image" is a large file on the hosts file system that emulates a complete file system for the guest.
- Raw Disk Access - being able to expose real hard disks to a virtual machine allowing them to interact with real partitions.
I recommend that a reader interested in this get to know Virtual Box which is fairly easy to get started with as virtual machines go, and has a lot of very advanced features. It is also (and this I like a lot) free. Virtual Box allows creation of many virtual machines, native (raw) disk access and plenty of other features.
You can then sell or use FreeMesa to get rid of the additional PC's, saving power and space in the room. Also I suspect it will be much quieter.
Virtual Machines with Xen
Professional Xen Virtualization
Amazon Price: $32.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Find out about using the Xen virtual machine hypervisor system for powerful virtualisation. Run many separate operating systems on one physical computer.
More interesting changes
Tinkering with the hardware to save power
If you are a computer tinkerer, like me, then you will have little fear in opening up a PC to replace the graphics card. There are now a number of recent graphics cards (for example the NVidia 8500 series) which are available as fanless cards. This will not only save money, but make the PC significantly quieter.
Similarly, replacing small whiney fans with larger, lower RPM fans on the CPU and other places will make for a quieter and power saving PC.
If you have an older AMD computer with a Socket 754 motherboard, you can successfully use a Laptop Socket 754 CPU in this desktop board, which will actually make a significant power saving. This does depend on the particular brand of motherboard, and has its caveats.
Similarly, replacing small whiney fans with larger, lower RPM fans on the CPU and other places will make for a quieter and power saving PC.
If you have an older AMD computer with a Socket 754 motherboard, you can successfully use a Laptop Socket 754 CPU in this desktop board, which will actually make a significant power saving. This does depend on the particular brand of motherboard, and has its caveats.
Fanless Graphics Cards
There was an error connecting to the Amazon web service. Please try again. Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.
Fanless chipset cooler
Zalman ZM-NB47J Fanless Northbridge Heatsink
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Chipsets these days get hot and need cooling. Fans are not only noisy, but are one way a computer will use more power than it needs. Using this kit will save some of the power used by your desktop PC.
More computer tips
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Windows XP, Vista, Linux and Ubuntu computer PC software hardware tips
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I have written a few pages with tips on computers. I have worked with computers for many years, so many that it would be silly for me to deny being a complete computer geek. However, although I am geeky, I try to explain things in simple terms so an...
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Do you have any feedback on this lens?
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What other suggestions do you have for saving power with a PC?
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Reply
- Mortira Mortira Apr 15, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
- Welcome to the Green Crusaders group!
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Reply
- seedplanter seedplanter Jan 4, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
- Great tips, all! I'm glad you mentioned to turn off peripheals. I have a Mac, and if a CD is in my superdrive I can always hear a slight running sound in the background, as if it's on standby (which technically, it is). What a helpful lens. Thank you!
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Reply
- lisadh lisadh Dec 23, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
- Very good suggestions here. I particularly like Local Cooling. I've used it and it's great.
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Reply
- dannystaple dannystaple Dec 16, 2008 @ 9:40 am | in reply to flowergardener
- I know that some things can be temperamental with hibernate - so save your work first. To be fair - you should be doing this regularly anyway! If it crashes trying, this generally signifies some kind of driver issue. What kind of system are you using?
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Reply
- flowergardener flowergardener Dec 16, 2008 @ 12:13 am
- Wonderful tips! My poor old 'puter' is a bit particular at times! It has a power-saver feature, but I'm afraid to use it :) I do suppose I'd better get brave soon and try it, hoping it won't have a heart-attack and crash on me....ha-ha-ha.
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Links for saving power on your computer
- Climate Savers Computing - Home
- The climates savers computing initiative was kicked off by Google to try and find ways to save the amount of power used by desktop PC's.
- LocalCooling - Free Power Management Tool to Optimize Energy Savings
- Saving the planet, one computer at a time.
- The Energy Saver Gadget
- Make your computer greener every day by optimizing your computer's settings to save energy.
- Keep Your Computer Running Fast, clean and secure for free
- I'm Going to run through thing's to do to clean up your computer and make it faster and safer for free in a few easy step's.
About Me
Lensmaster dannystaple has been a member since July 5 2008, has rated 414 lenses, favorited 127, and has created 39 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "HOWTO: Fix Broken Christmas Lights Quickly". See all my lenses
My Bio
I build stuff, grow stuff, read stuff and like to write about it. I like to philosophise, research and learn, and then go the next step and apply, do and build. I love reading How-to's and will experiment with things to see what else I can learn. Read more about me and my lenses here.
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