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Lots of people leave their PCs on overnight. Often, this is for no good reason whatsoever, it’s just out of laziness. But sometimes it’s a conscious decision: if you want your computer to continue receiving updates, or transmit/receive information of any kind during the wee hours of the night, you need to leave it on. But even the lowest power settings generally burn more power than you need to do that minimal amount of computing.
Now, those people can use a system called Somniloquy. Although this device may be hard to spell, it does offer a cool service. Most computers have four levels of power consumption – regular use, standby, sleep/hibernate mode and completely shut down. A lot of people, including myself, prefer to hibernate their PCs rather than shut them off, because it allows them to start up again more quickly. With Somniloquy, you can hibernate your PC and still have it communicate with other PCs. Check out more details on Phys.org.
As for those who are just leaving their computers on out of sheer laziness - they do not deserve a cool new Somniloquy. They should just turn off your computers.
Via Treehugger
Image via System Surgeon
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Comments (13)
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written by Mandi, April 24, 2009
I'd prefer they didn't turn off MY computer, but this is a cool idea.
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written by Cameron L., April 24, 2009
I've been curious about this for a while.
So it is better to turn off my computer each night rather than close it and let it sleep?
I wasn't sure if maybe turning it off and back on took just as much power as leaving it on overnight would.
So it is better to turn off my computer each night rather than close it and let it sleep?
I wasn't sure if maybe turning it off and back on took just as much power as leaving it on overnight would.
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written by andrew, April 25, 2009
Isn't "because it allows them to start up again more quickly" what the "too lazy to shut down" entails? What other reason is there besides stopping/starting more quickly? If you keep your computer optimized, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to a minute on each end. Is your time really that precious? Maybe you should make a "conscious decision" in favor of using less energy instead of using it to excuse laziness/impatience.
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written by Glenn, April 25, 2009
Another way to not leave your computer or other appliances on is to buy a Smart Strip power strip that will pay for itself in a couple of months. They shut down "phatom electrical loads". You can buy one at http://OakleighVermont.com/buy
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written by Bob Wallace, April 25, 2009
Kill-A-Watt. Get one and find out what your computer and other electrical stuff does when you aren't around.
I've been off the grid for a long time and (in the winter) need to be very careful about my phantom draws.
Some things are nasty, but not all computers. We've got a netbook (Asus EePC) that pulls only one watt when sleeping. I hope this is the new standard for most computers.
We can't rely on everyone to become "responsible". But we can put responsible devices in their hands rather than ones with built-in inefficiencies.
I've been off the grid for a long time and (in the winter) need to be very careful about my phantom draws.
Some things are nasty, but not all computers. We've got a netbook (Asus EePC) that pulls only one watt when sleeping. I hope this is the new standard for most computers.
We can't rely on everyone to become "responsible". But we can put responsible devices in their hands rather than ones with built-in inefficiencies.
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written by Bob Wallace, April 26, 2009
Cakewalker - lots of computers are oversized for the work they do. People who surf the web, use document and spreadsheet programs, do simple photo editing, and email don't need more computing power than the typical netbook offers.
Most people, including most office workers, could easily use an energy saving "netbook" with a larger screen when/if more viewing real estate is needed.
For CAD, gaming, editing using multiple layers, etc. a more powerful unit would be much more usable. But it's wasteful to use one of these more powerful systems for the simple tasks for which most people use their computers.
(I have a big, nasty desktop with large LCD monitor for serious photo editing. It's a specialized tool that only gets turned on when I need that much power.)
Most people, including most office workers, could easily use an energy saving "netbook" with a larger screen when/if more viewing real estate is needed.
For CAD, gaming, editing using multiple layers, etc. a more powerful unit would be much more usable. But it's wasteful to use one of these more powerful systems for the simple tasks for which most people use their computers.
(I have a big, nasty desktop with large LCD monitor for serious photo editing. It's a specialized tool that only gets turned on when I need that much power.)
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written by Josh, April 26, 2009
Using "the cloud" my sunray is just an emulator of my desktop. The "computer" is some server in a data center somewhere in the country that provides me my files, applications, and everything I need. Sounds like science fiction, but is called the Sunray. It's pulling a whole 4 watts powered on. When I am done for the day I pull out my badge and my session saves - everything is back exactly as I left it when the badge is reinserted.
Too bad comcast and other ISP/High speed providers are too focused on mobile markets or perhaps the sunray would be available for the general public. I think using this (very low energy) and extremely low maintenance (it has no moving parts) device is extremely marketable.
Anyway - makes the whole idea of "sleeping" a computer ridiculous. I just unplug it - and never have to worry about waiting to start back up.
Too bad comcast and other ISP/High speed providers are too focused on mobile markets or perhaps the sunray would be available for the general public. I think using this (very low energy) and extremely low maintenance (it has no moving parts) device is extremely marketable.
Anyway - makes the whole idea of "sleeping" a computer ridiculous. I just unplug it - and never have to worry about waiting to start back up.
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written by theswampster, April 27, 2009
Josh,
Having installed a sunray system for a client in the past, I wouldn't blow your green credentials just yet. although your sunray box does use just 4watts, the screen will still be using the same amount. Also your session isn't saved - its still running, in the datacenter running on big power hungry servers - all that will have happened when you remove your card is that the screen will have locked (on a windows session) - the server is still running. There are some power gains to be had with Virtual desktop setups such as sunray (produced by sun, but there are a number of others) if the contention ratio of the server is high enough (i.e. the number of sessions that share the same server) but the total power savings are often not as much as you would think. a better option (from a power perspective) is often with the low power pc - such as the asus eee pc.
Having installed a sunray system for a client in the past, I wouldn't blow your green credentials just yet. although your sunray box does use just 4watts, the screen will still be using the same amount. Also your session isn't saved - its still running, in the datacenter running on big power hungry servers - all that will have happened when you remove your card is that the screen will have locked (on a windows session) - the server is still running. There are some power gains to be had with Virtual desktop setups such as sunray (produced by sun, but there are a number of others) if the contention ratio of the server is high enough (i.e. the number of sessions that share the same server) but the total power savings are often not as much as you would think. a better option (from a power perspective) is often with the low power pc - such as the asus eee pc.
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written by Bob Wallace, April 27, 2009
Seems time for a "EePC" without the monitor, keyboard, battery and charger.
In other words, a very power efficient desktop into which one could plug a standard monitor, mouse and keyboard.
And to which one could connect a CD/DVD burner and one or two external hard drives, all of which could be turned on/off as needed.
Drop the stuff that makes the netbook portable and sell the CPU for a lot less money. Lots of people would chose such a unit based on the low selling price and end up saving lots of electricity as a bonus.
In other words, a very power efficient desktop into which one could plug a standard monitor, mouse and keyboard.
And to which one could connect a CD/DVD burner and one or two external hard drives, all of which could be turned on/off as needed.
Drop the stuff that makes the netbook portable and sell the CPU for a lot less money. Lots of people would chose such a unit based on the low selling price and end up saving lots of electricity as a bonus.
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written by Paolo, June 05, 2009
you can use notebook hardware control software (free) to downclock your computer, reducing power consuming
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written by James Sousa, December 15, 2009
What can happen in the rat's nest of wires that we all have when they are full of electricity 24/7? Were they designed for that? If they are warm, there may be trouble for them in the future.
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