You might think your desktop computer is efficient; after all, they use about as much electricity as one old-fashioned lightbulb...seems like a pretty good use of electricity to me. The bad news is that up to 50% of the power your computer uses is immediately lost as heat by your power supply. Frankly, that is a waste, and one that adds up to billions of wasted kilowatts (and dollars) per year.
Upgrading power supplies isn't the most exciting global warming solution, but it definitely is a no-brainer. When converting AC to DC and ramping wattage up and down, current power supplies waste ridiculous amounts of power. This is why Energy Star is finally beginning to require 80 percent power supplies.
While 80% efficient power supplies have been available for a few years, they haven't worked their way into many machines because of the current emphasis on either high performance (huge wattage) or low price (low efficiency) machines. Which is why we're excited that Energy Star has stepped in to require 80 plus power supplies.
Also on EcoGeek
To capitalize on the new rules, a company named Marvell has released new power regulation chips that can figure out precisely how much power your computer needs at any given time.These chips can be put into new power supplies and help regulate their electricity use. Good news, especially when the EPA says there are more than 10 billion power supplies sucking down electricity. The chips are set to be produced in early 2008, so look out for them if you're going to be upgrading in the new year.
We might all end up paying about $20 more for our computers, but we're saving a lot more in the long run.
Via News.com
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written by Richard, November 07, 2007
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written by Jerod, November 07, 2007
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written by zupakomputer, November 08, 2007
Check out eco-cases too.
Article raises a good point - it rings true for just about all electrical goods as they all use PSUs of some kind. The AC to DC conversions and the stepping down of the power do waste a lot of energy - power that you pay for, as it's already been drawn off the grid and through the wiring before the devices step it down to make it safe for the circuit boards.
Heat being the indicator of power loss.
And get this - even having the wall plug switched on, with nothing plugged in or nothing on that is plugged in, is drawing power out! So don't just not leave things on standby, make sure you turn off the switches too.
*if you're on SATA hard drives (or related), then yeah you can get efficient PSUs no bother.
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written by Mac, November 08, 2007
I've seen companies like Verdiem (http://www.verdiem.com) offer powerful network-level management tools for managing more efficient office environments, but this could also help the home consumer's energy costs.
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