Seth Novogrodsky, L&S Computer Resources
Higher energy costs and rolling blackouts have brought a new energy consciousness to many Californians. Regardless of the problems resulting from the deregulation of California's energy supply, energy conservation should still be a priority for us all. Not only does energy usage pose a major cost to consumers and to the University, the production of energy has a significant impact on the environment through the release of pollutants and the destruction of ecosystems.
Computers, monitors, and printers have become major consumers of energy on campus. A typical desktop computer and monitor may consume from 200 to 500 watts. Unfortunately, a good portion of the energy consumed ends up wasted. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 30 to 40 percent of personal computers and printers are kept on during the night and on weekends. In addition, computers and printers are idle as much as 90 percent of the time during the work day.
Below are some tips that can help you conserve electricity.
Don't keep your computers and peripherals on unless they are being used. Do not turn on your computer until you need to use it, and turn it off when you are finished. Unless your computer is used as a server (such as a file server or print server) by other computer users on a network, there is probably no reason to keep your machine on when you are not using it. If you use your computer periodically throughout the day, it may be best for you to keep your machine on all day, even though your computer may not be in constant use. In these cases, be sure to turn off your monitor whenever you will be away from your computer for more than a few minutes.
If your computer is being backed up automatically at night, consider changing the backup schedule so that your machine does not need to be left on. If you use the campus UCBackup service (http://ucbackup.berkeley.edu/), you can also perform backups manually. (Incremental backups through the UCBackup service often take 10 minutes or less.)
Computer peripherals such as scanners and printers also consume electricity; turn them off when they are not being used. Shared printers should, of course, be left on if other people need to use them. However, depending on people's schedules and whether they send print jobs to an office printer from home, it may be fine to turn off shared printers at the end of the day or on weekends.
A power-strip with an on/off switch can make it easy to turn off all your computer equipment at once. Although it is still better to turn off devices such as personal printers and external modems as you finish using them, turning off power at the power strip can save energy, since some devices (including chargers and power transformers) use small amounts of electricity even when they are not being used and the equipment is turned off.
Use the energy saving features of your computer equipment. Over the past few years, new computers and peripheral equipment have become more energy efficient, largely because of the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification program. Equipment meeting the Energy Star guidelines enters a power-saving "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity. However, to take advantage of the energy saving features, you may need to install or configure power management software. On Macintosh computers, the energy saving features are available through the Energy Saver control panel. On computers running Windows 98, Me, or 2000, there is a Power Management control panel. For Windows NT, you may be able to choose an energy saving screen saver that will automatically put the monitor into sleep mode after a specified period of inactivity. (Note that in general screen savers do not conserve energy.)
Consider energy efficiency when making new purchases. If you have older equipment that does not have any power management features, consider replacing it with Energy Star–compliant equipment. Also, check the energy usage of equipment you are evaluating for purchase. For example, you may want to consider the following sorts of things when contemplating a purchase:
Depending on your needs, the most energy efficient choice may not be the best option for you. You may need the expandability of a mini-tower, or not have a budget ample enough for a flat-panel display. However, if you do a thorough assessment of your needs and do a bit of research, you may be surprised at how much energy you can save.
The following sites provide useful energy saving information:
Editor's note: For a fiscal perspective on energy savings, see Savings in powering down, off, Henry Norr, San Francisco Chronicle, April 23, 2001.
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Berkeley Computing & Communications,
Volume 11, Number 3 (Summer 2001)
Copyright 2001, The Regents of the University of California