Why PCs Should Get More Sleep

TRDCorolla1

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Check out this article I found. Don't know how true this is in relation to Carbon Dioxide and global warming, but seems interesting nonetheless:

Why PCs Should Get More Sleep

"A single incandescent 100-watt light bulb left on around the clock for a year costs more than US$80 to power. Generating that power releases about 1,350 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere — a major contributor to global warming.

According to Dean DeWhitt, director of Microsoft's Windows Kernel team, that is about the same amount of power many PCs consume while not in use. Yet, while few people would leave a light bulb on for a year, many people keep their PCs running with screen-savers at all hours, which actually consumes more energy than an idling PC. What's more, many large organizations constantly leave their PCs running so they are available to receive security patches and updates.

“While education may be the key for many consumers, businesses are forced to balance cost and environmental impact against their own security and operations requirements,” says DeWhitt. “New power management features in Windows Vista are designed to help them with this challenge.”

In fact, Microsoft today announced the results of an independent study from UK-based PC Pro Labs, which looks at the energy consumption of Windows Vista and the potential reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. "Power Consumption, Windows Vista versus Windows XP" compared energy usage between Windows XP and Windows Vista, clearly showing that the power management features in Windows Vista could help reduce the carbon dioxide generated in an organization, equal to 45 tonnes per year for a 200-seat business. In addition, the study found that these features could also deliver savings on energy bills of up to £46 per desktop PC per year.

The study is based on real-world usage of desktop computers in the work environment of 800 desktop PC users. The cost savings and reduction in carbon dioxide emissions are due to the “Sleep” mode in Windows Vista, which automatically activates after one hour of non-use."
 
What about laptops? More global warming stuff...

I put mine in sleep mode (Windows Vista's standby-hibernate combo) overnight because it takes forever to boot the junk Toshiba sticks in their laptops.
 
I don't get that. So now, hydroelectric power is turned into carbon dioxide?

I think i'm missing something..
 
Really? I don't think a computer can be a polluant. CRTs, yes, because of the tube, but PCs? I've never seen a PC to emit radiation. It's all well maintained and kept clean.
 
TRDCorolla said:
Check out this article I found. Don't know how true this is in relation to Carbon Dioxide and global warming, but seems interesting nonetheless:

Why PCs Should Get More Sleep

"A single incandescent 100-watt light bulb left on around the clock for a year costs more than US$80 to power. Generating that power releases about 1,350 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere — a major contributor to global warming.

According to Dean DeWhitt, director of Microsoft's Windows Kernel team, that is about the same amount of power many PCs consume while not in use. Yet, while few people would leave a light bulb on for a year, many people keep their PCs running with screen-savers at all hours, which actually consumes more energy than an idling PC. What's more, many large organizations constantly leave their PCs running so they are available to receive security patches and updates.

“While education may be the key for many consumers, businesses are forced to balance cost and environmental impact against their own security and operations requirements,” says DeWhitt. “New power management features in Windows Vista are designed to help them with this challenge.”

In fact, Microsoft today announced the results of an independent study from UK-based PC Pro Labs, which looks at the energy consumption of Windows Vista and the potential reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. "Power Consumption, Windows Vista versus Windows XP" compared energy usage between Windows XP and Windows Vista, clearly showing that the power management features in Windows Vista could help reduce the carbon dioxide generated in an organization, equal to 45 tonnes per year for a 200-seat business. In addition, the study found that these features could also deliver savings on energy bills of up to £46 per desktop PC per year.

The study is based on real-world usage of desktop computers in the work environment of 800 desktop PC users. The cost savings and reduction in carbon dioxide emissions are due to the “Sleep” mode in Windows Vista, which automatically activates after one hour of non-use."
let me get this straight, the whole world is harping on about global; warming, and now microsoft are saying, well why not upgrade to our products and have these energy saving features, that might save you money...

FFS, just turn the bloody thing off!

TBH I'll mostly ever only leave my PC on if it's doing somethign that I need it to do. (like ripping a DVD), and even then it can be set to shut down once it's done that.
I don't need some over engineered powerd monitor turning off my machine becase I havn't moved the mouse for an hour because I've specifically left it performing a task.

Le GoogelGuRu said:
What about laptops? More global warming stuff...
surely you mean more global warming guff?


Arrix and Lhuser make better points. rather than going out and getting vista, why not investigate better energy options, more green solutions that don't generate CO2?
 
Even Low Radiation CRTs isn't enough. I'd get LCF/TFT screens from now. As far for PCs, my main concern is power consumption. Get stuff that is doing more with less power. That's the way to save energy :) And turn off the PC, when you go to sleep.
 
I usually turn my pc off at night unless im doing defrag or downloading a huge file and even if i leave my pc on all night ive still gotta reboot the damn thing before i can do anything with it i guess that's windows 98 for you

Matt
 
Windows 98's kernel is too buggy for modern stuff. I don't know why.

OSes will give you power options for sure, but it will not control how much power the PC is getting.
 
but surely that's the point here.
it's easy to press start - > shutdown - > OK
or even just tap the power button on the case

why do I need a whole new OS to turn my computer off for me? because some guy at microsoft told me that turning the PC will save me power, but hell why should I turn off my own PC when the PC can do it for me?? all I need to do is go buy Vista, then I can get a warm fuzzy feeling like I'm doing my bit for the environment?
 
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