Cevyn (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} cevyn) wrote,@ 2009-07-14 15:05:00 |
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Saved more electricity...
My constant quest to save more energy never ends. Recently I built a new internet server, after discovering my existing one was drawing 400w 24/7. With my electric rates, that is about $30 a month, just to run that one computer. My new one has AMD's "green" chip, which draws 45w. The new server draws a continuous 200w now, saving me $15 a month just like that. And with that savings, the new server pays for itself in about a year.
I've tweaked many other things as well...my "baseline" electrical load used to be ~1.5kw 24/7. That is what my house draws when no extra appliances are running. Now, it draws ~0.87kw!! I've almost cut this by half by doing things like replacing my server, taking vampire loads out, and other tweaks.
My latest experiment is to not run central air during the day at all. I have my programmable thermostat set to let the temp creep up to 88 at night - I have a small window AC in my bedroom to cool it off separately, and that draws only 500w vs 4kw like central does. Now, the central AC will come on and drop the temp to 80 at 6am when it's still cool outside - meaning it is much more efficient. I will see how this affects my electric bill.
My constant quest to save more energy never ends. Recently I built a new internet server, after discovering my existing one was drawing 400w 24/7. With my electric rates, that is about $30 a month, just to run that one computer. My new one has AMD's "green" chip, which draws 45w. The new server draws a continuous 200w now, saving me $15 a month just like that. And with that savings, the new server pays for itself in about a year.
I've tweaked many other things as well...my "baseline" electrical load used to be ~1.5kw 24/7. That is what my house draws when no extra appliances are running. Now, it draws ~0.87kw!! I've almost cut this by half by doing things like replacing my server, taking vampire loads out, and other tweaks.
My latest experiment is to not run central air during the day at all. I have my programmable thermostat set to let the temp creep up to 88 at night - I have a small window AC in my bedroom to cool it off separately, and that draws only 500w vs 4kw like central does. Now, the central AC will come on and drop the temp to 80 at 6am when it's still cool outside - meaning it is much more efficient. I will see how this affects my electric bill.
