Cost of running a PC

B0bbyEwing

Rather than wait until 1st Oct & then go oh my how dear the bill has become, I'm trying to look in to what things we have at home & how much they're costing. Can we change how we use them to save money. Some things will be certainly yes & other things no but I'm just looking at it at the moment.

So on to the PC.

How do you calculate that?

I don't really know anything about electronics. I know when people talk about cost they talk about W so on that note the PSU in my PC is a BeQuiet BQTL7-530W.

I've started putting the PC in to sleep status when I know I'm going to be away from it for say 10mins+ whereas before I'd just leave it running. 

I wonder how much electricity it uses. In my small mind, if I compare it to a car, if you just coast at a constant steady speed you'll use less juice than if you nail it at top speed. 
So that makes me wonder with a PC, if I just power it up and watch a bit of YouTube and come on here vs say ripping a DVD/blu ray maybe (I wont say vs playing games because I don't play games on the PC, nor do I do any strenuous video editing). 

Our gas use has gone down considerably this year vs last year but our electricity is up quite a bit. Now there's a change in circumstances that meant I expected it to be higher, just not this much higher.

shiraz99

Why not give one of those plug in electricity usage monitors a go. No idea which ones are any good or not.

400ixl

You have described the PSU, but that is just what it is capable of delivering rather than what the PC is drawing from it.

The graphics card is often one of the key factors alongside the CPU.

As suggested, a power meter is the most accurate way, but you could get a reasonable estimate with some software. As an example https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-measure-your-pcs-total-power-consumption

Grey_Critic

More important question is what you are going to do when you find out.

There will be a label somewhere  on the tower that tells you the power consumption, don't forget to add in the monitor and the router. No doubt someone will point out you should not be switching therse things on and off.

Then of course there are other items that could be effected. Do you watch TV via the internet for example - you will need the router for that.Have you got Alexa, how much will your economy measures impact the rest of the household?

Many years ago I went on an economy drive. Changing light bulbs and turning them off etc.I reduced my consumption (in spite of the family ignoring the rules I set) by around 50% - Perhaps in some ways the energy crisis has some benefits.

Not just cutting out waste but reducing bills. I know that when I did my exercise I had to compromise on some things.

Grey_Critic

Another way to economise might be Voltage Optimisation - We looked into it some years ago for commercial premises but decided the savings (in our case) did not justify the expenditure.

The is some info here - https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/voltage-optimisers/

sandy700

My computer a 

Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU @ 3.60GHz   3.60 GHz with 8 GB of memory a SSD drive and a 2 TB hard drive and a GT 710 graphics card uses between 30 and 50 watts per hour and the 28 inch monitor uses 31 watts per hour so between 60 and 80 watts so about 4p an hour when the electricity is 52p per kW.

B0bbyEwing

shiraz99 said:

Why not give one of those plug in electricity usage monitors a go.

Because...

shiraz99 said:

No idea which ones are any good or not.

400ixl said:

As suggested, a power meter is the most accurate way, but you could get a reasonable estimate with some software. As an example https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-measure-your-pcs-total-power-consumption

Thanks

Grey_Critic said:

More important question is what you are going to do when you find out.

This...

B0bbyEwing said:

Some things will be certainly yes & other things no but I'm just looking at it at the moment.

Grey_Critic said:

There will be a label somewhere  on the tower that tells you the power consumption, 

Sure?
I built the PC myself. 

Grey_Critic said:
don't forget to add in the monitor and the router. 

Yes monitor too of course,
Though the router doesn't count - that stays on all the time. I've turned the LED light off as that used more than I thought (contacted BT to find out but don't ask as can't remember what they said) and it wasn't needed, but the router itself stays on.

sandy700 said:

My computer a 

Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU @ 3.60GHz   3.60 GHz with 8 GB of memory a SSD drive and a 2 TB hard drive and a GT 710 graphics card uses between 30 and 50 watts per hour and the 28 inch monitor uses 31 watts per hour so between 60 and 80 watts so about 4p an hour when the electricity is 52p per kW.

Thanks.

That helps. Even if I'm a bit more than that, 4p an hour on a standard day it may cost me 20p a day. Will be much more of a weekend but even then not too bad.

That helps, thanks.

Neil_Jones

This might be of interest:

https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

As a general rule if a computer is just sitting there showing you a picture and doing nothing else the average power draw will be 200w or even less.  Obviously if its in sleep mode it will use considerably less.

Obviously the more intense the usage the more power it will eat, so if you game on it that pushes up the power.  Things like ripping media won't push the power up that much.

The figure plastered on the PSU (400w, 500w, 650w or whatever) is the maximum output of the device.  That is to say a 650w power supply will not draw 650w all day every day from the plug.  If it does (and you're not doing something power hungry) then something's wrong somewhere.

km1500

a typical desktop pc plus display will draw 100-200 watts

ie 10 hrs use is about 1-2 kwhrs @ 50p per kwh approx

Grey_Critic

Get the impression that there is a fixation with the computer here. Saving energy is sensible at any time. If you need to use a computer then worrying how much electricity it uses does not solve anything.

You cannot really look at any item in isolation - We have a disagreement in our house over the dishwasher. If I have a bowl of hot soapy water to wash some dishes that do not go in the dishwasher then I always wash other items at the same time. Result it saves energy as the dishwasher is not used as often. It is the same with the washing machine, does it need to be run on a hotter wash - do you need to use it every day - perhaps ensure you have a full load - the so called economy washes because you only have half a load is expensive - you still have to heat the water which is where ehe expense is.

Back to the computer if you actually use it for work for 4 hours a day for example then you really have no choice in the matter. Turn off lights - don’t leave things on standby -

LOTS of little things add up and is more efficient. Even Boris with his kettle comments was correct no matter the mockery.You do not have to boil 3 pints of water to make a cuppa and modern kettles make that easier

getmore4less

Grey_Critic said:

Get the impression that there is a fixation with the computer here. Saving energy is sensible at any time. If you need to use a computer then worrying how much electricity it uses does not solve anything.

You cannot really look at any item in isolation - We have a disagreement in our house over the dishwasher. If I have a bowl of hot soapy water to wash some dishes that do not go in the dishwasher then I always wash other items at the same time. Result it saves energy as the dishwasher is not used as often. It is the same with the washing machine, does it need to be run on a hotter wash - do you need to use it every day - perhaps ensure you have a full load - the so called economy washes because you only have half a load is expensive - you still have to heat the water which is where ehe expense is.

Back to the computer if you actually use it for work for 4 hours a day for example then you really have no choice in the matter. Turn off lights - don’t leave things on standby -

LOTS of little things add up and is more efficient. Even Boris with his kettle comments was correct no matter the mockery.You do not have to boil 3 pints of water to make a cuppa and modern kettles make that easier

The economy washes to get the eco ratings use less water and lower temperature than specified for the regular wash of the same type.