An Energy Hog Sitting Right Before You

Jun 14, 2007 10:22

A recent New York Times article tells us several ways to cut down on energy consumption, centering on the computer as closet energy hog ( Read more... )

Leave a comment

Comments 11

skitzosavior June 14 2007, 16:15:15 UTC
GRADUATION SPEECH PLZ. Seriously, can you read this?

Reply

silent_frost June 14 2007, 20:22:08 UTC
Hmmm... hahaha, it'd turn out a lot more interesting than the current speech I got okay-ed by Pilnik. Not sure how crazy he'd be about this as a graduation speech though. Typically, they should be optimistic and inspirational and about some vague future that we are all going to make better with our higher education. ;)

Reply

skitzosavior June 14 2007, 22:39:30 UTC
Yes but this one is about using our privilege to save the environment yay!

Reply


xx_rapunzel_xx June 14 2007, 16:19:15 UTC
I like this article ( ... )

Reply

silent_frost June 14 2007, 20:28:02 UTC
I reread what I wrote, and what I wrote was a little misleading. The computers themselves don't pump out C02. It's the electricity that they consume that leads to the pumping out of CO2. Sorry about that! I edited what I wrote to make it clearer.

I usually hibernate my laptop out of a lazy habit (PC's I always shut down), but hibernation doesn't quite seem to take up any energy (or at least it takes up very little), as my laptop looks like it's shut down and out cold when I hibernate it.

I remember when somebody (Alan Chin, no less--hey, are you still poking around this LJ when you're bored?) left his computer on by accident (I think...) when he went to hawaii, and you just saw him gaining idle hours with each passing day....

Reply


polkadottedsky June 14 2007, 17:23:00 UTC
In 7th grade I had Mr. Freketic 9th period and he always made us shut the monitors off after class, but not the actual computers. He said the reason for that is because it takes more power to turn a computer off and boot it up again than it does to just leave it on the entire day.

I don't think Mr. Freketic really had any idea what he was talking about.

P.S. I have been guilty of the "bed" away message for the past 3 days. =(

P.P.S. But whenever my computer goes on standby, it never stops.. standing by. I have to turn it off and on again anyway.

s;ajga;ljgl;js this entry proves just what a hypocrite I am, despite the fact that I am a tree-hugger and all. Blarg.

Reply

polkadottedsky June 14 2007, 17:24:05 UTC
Oh yeah, this is my new journal. Which I haven't used yet. Add me!

Reply

silent_frost June 14 2007, 20:38:12 UTC
I assume it's Amanda!
What Mr. Freketic said seems to contradict common sense... the computer has a way higher chance of overheating after being left on for hours than just being turned on. I feel bad for computers when they overheat. Besides, it's "healthier" for the computer if they're shut down so that they can rest.

P.S. Bad Amanda!
P.P.S. What about hibernating it?

I feel like a hypocrite sometimes too. A lot of desktops (or at least the ones I've encountered) have issues when it comes to standing by/hibernating and the like, so I don't really do that to them and leave them off while I go off to be a lazy bum elsewhere. Well, I'll be using laptops for the next few years at college, so no problem with hibernation there (I hope). Laptops are more energy efficient too!

Reply


faithmanages June 15 2007, 02:28:01 UTC
When I was younger my mother was convinced that turning the computer off and on too much was going to damage it. I still haven't figured that one out... (She also believed that having too many icons on the desktop made the computer slower. And that if you ever gave out your first name on the internet, a pack of rabid child molesters would swoop down and drag you away.)

Reply

silent_frost June 15 2007, 16:36:11 UTC
Too late for that. I gave my real name to ezboard years back. The eeevil ezboard. Wonder what's become of them. *heads over to wikipedia*

Reply


(The comment has been removed)

silent_frost June 15 2007, 16:20:37 UTC
Mmm, never heard of the microcomputing stuff before. Sounds interesting though. (And now I can avoid one more situation where I'm going to be pwned with science--or pwned in general--at MIT.)

I am not completely sure, not having investigated closely in these matters, but hibernation looks like to me that the computer is using very little if not no power. I almost always hibernate my laptop, whose battery is shot (never charges to beyond 4%).

None of the desktops in my house go into standby mode automatically. This may be because they're old. There are options to do so, but one of the desktops spends most of its time shut down and the other desktop is almost always being used anyway. My laptop never goes into standby or hibernate automatically as long as it's not running on batteries, but it's always connected to power now because the battery works only for a minute at max.

The newer computers are definitely better when it comes to power-saving though.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up