Global warming. If you’re anything like me, reading those two words instantly switched off your brain.
But how about if I told you that saving the planet can also save you hard cash? And that you could have an extra £33 a year or more in your pocket for every computer your business owns just by hitting a few buttons. It starts to sound more interesting, right?
There are over two billion computers hooked up to the internet right now. (I’d like to be more precise but it turns out counting computers is even harder than guessing the number of Smarties in one of those giant glass jars).
Of course, if every one one of those two billion computers was turned off at night it would save an awful lot of money and the polar bears might not find their home melting into the Arctic Ocean. But as you are not in a position to control that, how about starting with what you can control – the computer under your desk.
Now bear with me for a quick economics lesson. It’ll be worth it, I promise.
The average office computer has a 300 watt power supply, but just like a car with 300 horsepower it doesn’t always run on full throttle. The average desktop runs at about 100 watts. Add an LCD monitor and you’ll sit with about 150 watts. Let’s say this PC is on for an average of eight hours a day, five days a week. That works out to 1,2kW per day or 6kW per week.
The fixed kWh rate for British Gas for the 2014-2015 term is 10.766 pence which means an average cost of £0.13 per day, or £0.65 per week, or £33.80 per year.
Multiply that £33.80 by the number of PC’s you have in your organisation and it works out to a pretty penny.
Luckily – and here’s where TechRelate come in – Here’s 4 simple PC tips that will give you extra cash in your pocket, and help to save the planet too!
1. Use power saving features
If there’s one thing you take away from this article it should be to use your PCs built in power saving features.
When your computer is in sleep mode, it only draws about 0.6 watts. That’s a tiny fraction compared to the amount used when it is running.
While all modern computers come with the most energy efficient setting already enabled – whereby the computer goes to sleep after 15-30 minutes – this isn’t always the case with older computers.
So, it is well worth checking, and putting the setting in place, if necessary.
If you are using Windows 7, you need to go to the control panel power options. These are easily changed, and we suggest the following settings:
2. Dump the screensaver
Another power, and money, saving tip relates to the screensaver. The word screensaver is actually a contradiction as it does not save the screen from anything at all. Instead of choosing to look at a pretty picture when your PC is idle, let the monitor go to sleep. That’s an extra 50 watts you don’t need to waste.
3. Buy energy efficient PCs
If you are in the market for new PCs think energy-efficient. In June 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency developed a rating system for energy efficient PCs. All PCs with an Energy Star rating require that the power supply used is at least 80% efficient. Normal, cheaper power supplies are only 55%-80% efficient. This means that nearly half the energy being consumed is wasted. So when you want to buy a new PC, look out for this sticker.
4. Switch off your PC
I know it sounds silly, but simply switching off your PC at night means you have about 12 hours where absolutely no power is being.
Contrary to popular belief, your PC will NOT wear out by turning it on and off. PCs are built much stronger than they used to. Even if it did wear your PC out, it would take so long that by the time it happened, your machine would be obsolete anyway.
It simply does not use more energy to start a computer than to leave it running. This is a myth.
These simple tips will not only help Mother Earth (and the polar bears) but your wallet will be happier, too.