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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Retired Forums
Forum: The New Members Forum [Read Only]
Thread: Electricity cost of Grid? |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 21
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
My question is, how much will donating my computing power cost me in energy bills?
I've installed the WCG on 2 pc's. One pc is an AMD 1gig proc whose harddrive is always in use anyway for file sharing, but whose CPU had only been about 15% in use. The other is a AMD 2.5 gig proc which had been used just two or three hours a day. Both pc's are now running WCG 24/7. Both pc's also have standard 19" monitors which don't power down. I live in New York City with electricity costing 14 ¢ per kilowatt·hour. How much will my monthly bill increase? Did I provide all the information necessary to make a good estimate? |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Since computers run equally well with monitors turned off instead of on, what sort of schedule do you plan to run your monitors on? That will have a large effect on your power usage.
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Great Topic.
I would like to establish "operational usage definitions" . These would make it easy to find common language and concepts when dissecting the Power usage of an assortment of common components comprising the multitude of Personal Computer setups. Whew. I see One Month as a common 30 day period. This I think is a definition everyone can work with, Our Power Bills. So we need to figure ALL common components added in the PCs. By the monthly usage of each. (720hrs=30day=1mo=1/12yr.) (-4.25days) Power supply Watts. Fans=40-60-80-90-120mm Cold lighs LED Diode Lights Power transformers for Routers and modems. UPS My Power bill is crazy..  Robert |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
I used be to a technical specialist for a lumber and building materials store.
The building is known for its Energy Efficiency, solar panels, etc. To monitor power usage on their computers we used a meter made by "Watts Up?" They range from $89 to $130, sometimes you can find a used one from e-bay for cheaper. That would give a very accurate estimate of your power usage. If you use a LCD or turn off your CRT when not in use, you will find it isn't much power. If you find that energy usage is important, then the investment is worth it. -Damon |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Since computers run equally well with monitors turned off instead of on, what sort of schedule do you plan to run your monitors on? That will have a large effect on your power usage. Alrighty, I set it up so that the monitors will shut off after 20 mins no use; that will mean the monitors are off about 60% of the time. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
After searching the web I found a site called Cost Logistics who are based in the United Kingdom
You can get the answer to this question here The cost of running your Computer and Monitor is based on UK Electricity cost per Kilowatt You can adjust this figure at the site to coincide with the cost per Kilowatt per hour that you are being charged on your current electricity bill For other countries, you will have to convert your hourly cost per Kilowatt hour to Stirling and then convert the result back to your Country Currency A pain, I know, but if you want an accurate cost it may be worth the trouble It is a very versatile program and lets you input your own parameters  I hope this helps to answer your question Here is the Link: Cost Logistics Regards |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Fortunatly I pay a fixed ammount each year, no matter how much power I use. And I can tell you, it's afrigging lot. More then 2K $ a year just on computer power.
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
For a general idea, you can assume most processors use between 40-80 watts of juice. Add in the hard drive, ram and motherboard power draws, and you're probably in the 100-150 watt range, as long as you keep your monitor off, which I'll assume you do if you're not actively using your computer. (And if you're actively using your computer, it's not really fair to blame that portion of the power draw on the grid!)
So figure one computer running the grid agent is going to pull roughly the same amount of electricity as leaving the porch lights on all the time. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Most computers have a 300w power supply, so that's the absolute most the CPU can pull (not including the moniter).
----------------------------------------365 Days/Year 24 Hours/Day * 300Watts = 2628000 Watt-Hours or 2628 kW-hours MAX per year. Now 14¢ / kW-hour seems a bit expensive, mine is 2¢. Make sure you look at your bill carefully. Often the first XXXX kWh is billed at one rate, then the next YYYY is billed at another. $52 / Year MAX for me... if your's really is $.14, then it could be as high as $368/Year... If your PC is running at full power, with all the CD ROM drives spinning at full speed, Graphics card pegged out, pulling data from the hard drive like mad. At just full CPU, I would think 1/2, maybe 1/4 of that, so really closer to $100-200, if you're at $.14 You can recover the cost of this by simply rembering to not put in 100Watt lightbulbs in your porch light, put 60Watt lightbulbs in insted. Rember to turn off your lights when your not at home, and turn your AC down. If yours is really $.14 / KWH, I'd be very scared, my power bill is $250/mo, then if I used New York power, I would be paying over $1700 for the same amount of power. Kunnis [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Jan 4, 2005 7:51:06 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
My elect.bill runs runs anywhere between 150-250 they dont read the meter every month i save money by cooking on the grill
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