Electric
Well, it looks like my folding has reared it's ugly head in the form of my power bill. I compared last years KWH usage to this years and there was a significant increase in power usage starting at the moment I began cranking up computers to get into the folding race. Compound that with the cost per KWH rate hike this year and my power bill was...um...large. 
I measured my power usage (borrowed a friends KWH meter) and, combined, my computers were using 780W constant power which comes out to about 560KWH's extra per month on my bill or about $85 extra per bill NOT COUNTING the cost to run my air conditioner to overcome the excess heat generated and pumped into my house, so the actual KWH usage and cost was even higher. In reality, I saw about a $170 increase in my power bill over the same month a year ago with temperatures approximately the same.
So, I have turned it down...a lot. My two main computers are set to hibernate now to conserve power, so I doubt they will be crunching too many protiens. Two other computers have been parted out, and the remaining two are homebuilt firewall routers on low end equipment (aka low power consumption) so they fold sloooowwww.
So what now? Well, it's going to be a while before I reach that 100,000 Hall of Fame mark (and I was soooo close). Additionally, I'm going to see if I can take a tax write off on the portion of my power bill and computer time that was used for this charitable contribution. Somehow, I doubt the power will be a write off...dang government - BUT IT WAS CHARITABLE POWER!!!
DOOM!!! DOOM TO YOU I SAY!!!
I need to switch from this hideous Earth power to my superior Irken free energy machines! If only I had remembered to bring a stargate. :bigggrin:
Maybe you smelly huuuumans will figure it out for me...
http://www.steorn.net/frontpage/default.aspx
I measured my power usage (borrowed a friends KWH meter) and, combined, my computers were using 780W constant power which comes out to about 560KWH's extra per month on my bill or about $85 extra per bill NOT COUNTING the cost to run my air conditioner to overcome the excess heat generated and pumped into my house, so the actual KWH usage and cost was even higher. In reality, I saw about a $170 increase in my power bill over the same month a year ago with temperatures approximately the same.
So, I have turned it down...a lot. My two main computers are set to hibernate now to conserve power, so I doubt they will be crunching too many protiens. Two other computers have been parted out, and the remaining two are homebuilt firewall routers on low end equipment (aka low power consumption) so they fold sloooowwww.
So what now? Well, it's going to be a while before I reach that 100,000 Hall of Fame mark (and I was soooo close). Additionally, I'm going to see if I can take a tax write off on the portion of my power bill and computer time that was used for this charitable contribution. Somehow, I doubt the power will be a write off...dang government - BUT IT WAS CHARITABLE POWER!!!
DOOM!!! DOOM TO YOU I SAY!!!
I need to switch from this hideous Earth power to my superior Irken free energy machines! If only I had remembered to bring a stargate. :bigggrin:
Maybe you smelly huuuumans will figure it out for me...
http://www.steorn.net/frontpage/default.aspx
0
Comments
I choke it down but I can understand you point. You've done well and any work you DO turn in still helps. Thanks for not dropping it totally.
http://geeklimit.com/2006/05/06/geek-money-7-day-programmable-thermostat/
http://geeklimit.com/2006/04/29/geek-money-switching-over-to-compact-fluorescents/
I'll be doing another article soon, should be good for $20-40/month.
Sorry to hear about the big power bill. No shame in having to trim back on power usage. That's just the way it goes. The suggestion to install flourescent bulbs was excellent. The startup costs can be a bit unnerving, but the savings come the first time you flip on the light switch. I have very few incandescent bulbs in and outside of my home. I even have flourescents in the night stand reading lamps. It makes a very big difference in the power bill. Don't buy them singly at department or general stores - you'll pay dearly. Buy them in bulk packs at Lowes or Home Depot.
I'm in on the compact flourescents - sounds like a great investment!
I should get one of those thermostats, esp since I work 12 hour shifts. No need for the apt to be full heat/cool while I am away.
Any suggestions?
Datsun 1600
Just be sure to get one that is a 7-day so you can customize the weekends too. Look for one that also has a 'Special Day Override' too, so you can hit one button and get a different program, in case you have to stay hme sick or something.
Other than that, I'd say to look for one that has 2 batteries...just so you don't have to replace them...
This will tell you how much energy anything uses... Keep in mind that the amount of energy a PSU uses is relative to what the machine is doing, and how efficient the PSU is. The less energy the PSU turns into heat, the more efficient it is...assuming you're not using the PSU for a space heater...
Summertime is a different story, though...
yeesh!
Ever looked at the efficiency of the PSU's? There's a bunch on newegg at or above 85% efficiency... Maybe those 8 PSU's could concentrate on the WU's without making so much heat in the process...
Do you have your monitors set to power off? This could save a chunk of elect. on its own. Can the machines be moved to a different location? ie garage, spare room? That would save on cooling bills. At one time I had half a dozen rigs in a spare closet with an exhaust fan venting into the attic just to remove the excess heat in the house.
Yep, worked out great for me. Definitely hit up Home Depot, and I would absolutely discourage getting them from Wal-mart. I replaced every bulb in my place with CF, half from HD and half from WM. The HD's have had 1 failure (tonight), and they Wal-mart brand had had about a 50% failure rate, in the first 6 weeks or so!!
A friend of mine at work told me to get the Sylvania CF's in contractor packs from Lowes. He said they come on really fast, last a long time, and are (in his opinion) better than Home Depot's various brands.
And for Prof, the obligatory Zim retort:
Filthy, stinky huuuuman! Your light technology is pathetic. I could destroy your puny Earth planet with just ONE Irken light emitter! Kneel...kneel I say!
(LMAO