It's hard to say. People have to make their own decisions on this.

All WCG asks for is the time when your computer is normally on. The difference between idle and 100% CPU is relatively small. The difference between on and off is relatively large.

But I think WCG is a worthwhile use of energy. All that remains is to try to use clean, renewable energy.

Energy demand is really irrelevant. You don't need to factor that into your decision. What may be more useful to you is information about the efficiency of your computer. Some computers achieve low power ratings by cutting back the CPU when the load is high - this technology is common in laptops.

I live in Hawaii where almost all electricity comes from burning oil (90%) and we have only 1 regulated power company. I leave my desktop and laptop on all night but turn them off during the day.

What a contradiction! Hawai must be a place with an abundant energy potentiel - thinking of sun, water, wind, geothermal, etc.

Here is some more Delema for you.. Far as low power mode on a system ,that has be the latest bad idea since Compressing RAM software of the early 90's. When you are not using a system for anything at all it is best to just shut it down totally.. using a low power mode or "standby" is not to healthy for a system at all.. sure it looks great on paper but from a hardware standpoint it is brutle..

When the computer goes to standby most cooling system parts stop with the exception of the powersupply itself.. most of the system's motherboard is still fully energized especially the RAM to maintain the system state. now if you are using a powerful system lack of airflow can cause that RAM to overheat and cause the system to lock up when it is woke up or still in standby.. Powersupply internal stress, with more powerful computers the hotter powersupplies run themselves the consistant heating up and cooling down of the powersupply can cause the internal parts of it to fail much sooner.

Far as energy use.. energy is used different everyday.. more in Summer less in Winter.. using a low power state during the day will not do all the much to demand. unless you are shutting down 6 huge Trane airconditioners for a huge office building. and again about system low powerstate.. refer to the above paragraph..

Hope this helps...

Rick

OK, I have done some more research on the subject. It sounds like during the peak hours (e.g. noon-6pm - depends on your area), especially during extreme hot and cold weather making conservation a priority can be a good idea, since during this peak demand, some backup typically non-clean powerplants can be brought to service to meet the demand.

At the same time during the night the electricity seems to be abundant so running WCGrid during this time sounds like a good and responsible choice.

Some more background on electricity demand fluctuation is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/business/08...488a3abf84692&ei=5070