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27 July 2005
How much does that power really cost?
Posted by at July 27, 2005 06:12 PM
In an earlier blog Ade questions the need to spend fast sums of money on equipment that may be far more powerful than you actually need.
Thinking about cost savings further, what about the equipment you already own? I've recently read in PC Pro Magazine about a campaign they've started called Switch IT Off. The articles reveal some quite startling facts and figures regarding how much electricity is needlessly consumed every day.
For example a PC that spends most of its time idle will draw between 100W and 200W of power and could cost around £100 per year to run. If that same PC is running SETI@home or dare I say it the MARC21 conversion screen saver currently doing the rounds at Talis, the cost suddenly leaps to nearer £200.
The argument for staff turning their PCs off before they leave the office at night suddenly becomes quite compelling.
And it's not just PCs. Think about all those peripherals, the printers, the scanners, and the monitors all of which consuming needless electricity.
According to PC Pro an average 50-person business could shave £5,000 off its annual electricity bill by implementing a 'Switch IT Off' policy. I wonder how many Universities and County Councils have these policies in place?
At Talis nearly all staff now have laptops so that they are able to work flexibly at home, in the office or at customer sites. Laptops while being less powerful have the added advantage that they also draw less power.
I strongly recommend you read the articles for yourself, by implementing such a policy not only will you be saving money but you'll be helping the environment as well.
Visit the Switch IT Off website for more details.
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» Three Cheers for shutting down as well from HiWired Blog
I'm going to have to link to Infoblog more often, they are with me on another of my pet peeves. SHUTTING DOWN! For example a PC that spends most of its time idle will draw between 100W and 200W of... [Read More]
Tracked on December 7, 2005 05:54 PM
