Power Consumption

D

darktiger

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2007
Joined
Apr 10, 2003
Messages
11,819
I know it depends on what city/region you live in. But how much do you think a 2.5ghz A64 and a 2500+ Barton cost to run 24/7? Looking for averages here...


 
My electric bill seemse to go up about $1 for every machine I add......
Then again it could be that damn light in the kitchen that the kids NEVER turn off!!!!! :mad:
 
Personally, I think you are looking at somewhere around $10 per system, but what you are running in the system makes a big difference. Video cards can draw a ton of power as can extra HDDs. Quality of your PSU is also a big thing. My power bill is around $160 and I think about 2/3 of it is due to folding boxes
 
Hito Bahadur said:
My power bill is around $160 and I think about 2/3 of it is due to folding boxes
Click to expand...

I beat you there.
My power bill is about £70 per month and £60 is from the boxen.

I work on ~250 watts per boxen but most of mine are dual CPU boxen so yours will probably be slightly lower.
So working on 200 watts per boxen x 2 is 400 watts per hour or roughly 10 Kwh per day or 300 Kwh per month.
At $0.06 per Kwh ~ $18 extra per month.
Thats some very rough figures.
But its probably in the right type of area if you pay about that for a Kwh of power.

Luck......... :D
 
Yeah, I plan on around 120-130 watts per box which is about right, since most of my boxes are single HDD, integrated video, no-frill 1.5-2.3Ghz AMD rigs.

I just bought a Kill-a-watt and I will post data as I get it.
 
My KWH rate is a bit over 5.45 cents per. I shut down 5 machines, bill dropped $125.00 a month. Which of course, SUCKS!

 
Damn... I'm curious how some of your electrical bills are so high! :confused:
Not bragging or anything either but my bill stradles $160 each month.
I have a houseload of people with a houseload of electronics that keeps it up that high too.... my 10 or so computers barely contributes $25 of that.....
 
My biggest power eaters in the house aren't the computers in the computer room...it's the damn air conditioner in the computer room I have to run all friggin year here in Florida.
 
BakedON said:
Damn... I'm curious how some of your electrical bills are so high! :confused:
Not bragging or anything either but my bill stradles $160 each month.
I have a houseload of people with a houseload of electronics that keeps it up that high too.... my 10 or so computers barely contributes $25 of that.....
Click to expand...

I wonder what your KWH rate is. I actually don't know what my cost is without the computers as I have had them all on since I moved in. I know it is a good portion of the cost though, because all my utilities are non-electric, so lighting, the refrigerator, tv and dryer are the only other large contributors.
 
BillR, what do you mean 5.45 per hour?

Is that 5.45 cents per KWH ($.05)? That's actually pretty low.
 
HTPC Rookie said:
My biggest power eaters in the house aren't the computers in the computer room...it's the damn air conditioner in the computer room I have to run all friggin year here in Florida.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, A/C makes the power bill crazy high.
 
Mine is an average of 5.95p per KWH over here in England.

I may get a small AC unit for this summer.
It all depends on how hot this summer is.

Luck...... :D
 
Tigerbiten said:
Mine is an average of 5.95p per KWH over here in England.

I may get a small AC unit for this summer.
It all depends on how hot this summer is.

Luck...... :D
Click to expand...


5.95p works out to about $0.12 if I'm not mistaken, which is comperable to what many of us pay.
 
Hito Bahadur said:
BillR, what do you mean 5.45 per hour?

Is that 5.45 cents per KWH ($.05)? That's actually pretty low.
Click to expand...

I did edit that...should have been sleeping ;)
 
BillR,

Your boxes are drawing a ton of power. Much more than mine.
 
Hito Bahadur said:
BillR,

Your boxes are drawing a ton of power. Much more than mine.
Click to expand...

I know, it's become an issue with my Power company too. This all started after they replaced my meter. I actually am having to file with the PUC to get them to actually do anything at all about it. Meanwhile, my output is suffering.

There is no way each box is costing $25 a month to run. :rolleyes:


 
BillR said:
I know, it's become an issue with my Power company too. This all started after they replaced my meter. I actually am having to file with the PUC to get them to actually do anything at all about it. Meanwhile, my output is suffering.

There is no way each box is costing $25 a month to run. :rolleyes:


Click to expand...

You've down the kill-a-watt thing and all?
 
BillR said:
I did edit that...should have been sleeping ;)
Click to expand...

I wish I had your rates. I've got Adams Electric, and it's running about 9.5c/kwh...works out to be about $7.50- $8 per box/month, except for the summer, when it's easily $10/box/month
 
I don't know what the farm runs per month as far as juice, since I've had five other people killing me with two big TVs and the electric dryer running almost every day for 30 months :mad: .

I just love the billing scheme here. You have the basic rate, then the fuel cost surcharge, an environmental surcharge, and finally the PRM's (Peoples Republic of Maryland) coin grab. Broke down, it looks like this:

Power used: 2,441 kw/hr
Basic fee: $67.02 (0.0271 per kwh) :)
Fuel surcharge: $165.11 (0.06764 per [this month] ) :eek:
Misc larceny: $9.75

Electric for 27 days: $241.88

We won't discuss the rest of the $420 for utilities... :rolleyes:
 
BillR said:
I know, it's become an issue with my Power company too. This all started after they replaced my meter. I actually am having to file with the PUC to get them to actually do anything at all about it. Meanwhile, my output is suffering.

There is no way each box is costing $25 a month to run. :rolleyes:


Click to expand...
Based on my
single Sempron 2200/768mb RAM/10GB HD, 3 fans = 90watts at full tilt
single Sempron 2200/768mb RAM/2000GB HD, 3 fans = 120watts at full tilt
Your price of $25 seems just only about $20 off
With rounding
120 watts = about 90Kw/month.
Now in summer you might have to double that if you are using a/c.
/edit
times about $0630/Kwh = about $5.60/month
 
Bill Clo said:
I wish I had your rates. I've got Adams Electric, and it's running about 9.5c/kwh...works out to be about $7.50- $8 per box/month, except for the summer, when it's easily $10/box/month
Click to expand...
Adams Electric?

Where in York / Adams County do you live? My folks used to be with that company until AE pulled up stakes in Stewartstown. There's a machine tools shop in the old Adams Electric building just off Rte 851 there...
 
Strikemaster said:
Adams Electric?

Where in York / Adams County do you live? My folks used to be with that company until AE pulled up stakes in Stewartstown. There's a machine tools shop in the old Adams Electric building just off Rte 851 there...
Click to expand...

Small world, your folks live dang near in my back yard so to speak...well, the south 40 at least ;)
 
Strikemaster said:
Adams Electric?

Where in York / Adams County do you live? My folks used to be with that company until AE pulled up stakes in Stewartstown. There's a machine tools shop in the old Adams Electric building just off Rte 851 there...
Click to expand...

I live in York County, SE of Hanover, near the MD line.
 
BillR said:
I know, it's become an issue with my Power company too. This all started after they replaced my meter. I actually am having to file with the PUC to get them to actually do anything at all about it. Meanwhile, my output is suffering.

There is no way each box is costing $25 a month to run. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think the oil they use on that little spinning disk is some of the best shit in the world, I mean seriously.. Power goes out that Fu#$er is still spinning!!!! I want some of that shit to run in my car :)


 
Folding on 5 PC's cost me $2000+ every year; I stopped folding when I discovered that.
 
good god what kind of rate are you paying???


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
This thread inspired me to cut my usage a bit. I was able to trim 35 watts of use off my main machine at home, a mobile Athlon XP 2500+. I had it at 11 x 220 = 2425MHz, and cutting it back to 11.5 x 209 = ~2413MHz, plus dropping the core voltage .05v, and the memory voltage .2v.

It was pulling a constant 199 watts, now it flutters between 161-167 watts.
 
JMke said:
Folding on 5 PC's cost me $2000+ every year; I stopped folding when I discovered that.
Click to expand...

That's $33/machine/month. That seems a little insane. What were you running?

 
JMke said:
Folding on 5 PC's cost me $2000+ every year; I stopped folding when I discovered that.
Click to expand...

Hell I have spent 2K on boxen this month :) I have to slow that down a bit (well I am rapidly running out of space to put them) but with borging I should be up to 40 CPUs by the end of next week or so :) My power bill is just a big tax write off for me so I am not as concerned about it :)

 
Tormond said:
Hell I have spent 2K on boxen this month :) I have to slow that down a bit (well I am rapidly running out of space to put them) but with borging I should be up to 40 CPUs by the end of next week or so :) My power bill is just a big tax write off for me so I am not as concerned about it :)

Click to expand...

Please elaborate. and don't worry, I don't work for the IRS. I would love to know how this works exactly.
 
I own a computer consulting company and have an office in my home. So I get to write off a portion of all my bills off my taxes. I can normally get away with (according to my CPA) about 50% of the light bill due to having more AC/Power consumption than a standard household would. And since my Power bills seem to go from 200-600 a month depending on how hot it is and how many PCs I am running I can go along with that.

 
chileman said:
That seems a little insane.
Click to expand...

less than what you might think:)

0.250KW *€0.16 = 0.04/hour
6 folders => 0.04*6 = 0.24/hour
day(*24) = €5.76
year (*365)= €2102

and even if it's €200 yearly, I would have stopped, I see no point in letting these machines run @ 100% CPU usage just for the "fun of it"
 
I work out to about $10 per month per box. I have the basic systems you are talking about, so if you want the wattages for them just let me know. I haven't put a kill-a-watt on them yet (hate to reboot) but can.
 
sandmanx said:
This thread inspired me to cut my usage a bit. I was able to trim 35 watts of use off my main machine at home, a mobile Athlon XP 2500+. I had it at 11 x 220 = 2425MHz, and cutting it back to 11.5 x 209 = ~2413MHz, plus dropping the core voltage .05v, and the memory voltage .2v.

It was pulling a constant 199 watts, now it flutters between 161-167 watts.
Click to expand...
If you're really tweaking to lower power consumption, you might also want to see if you can underclock your video cards when you're not using them. I've always wanted to do this, but didn't want to fool with my main rig and never got around to the headless ones. Hmmm, I wonder if my UPS will tell me how much power I'm using...
 
Since this thread is resurrected I need to make a change to my original post. After a major battle with PPL (my loveable electric provider) and the PUC (no explanation needed) it turns out after both entities “translated” my bill into understandable terms I actually pay $.10 per KWH.

It better explains the “cost” but the rate is outrageous.

Their (the power company and PUC) combined answer to me is:

“First, be glad it’s not higher”

“Second, we will be glad to test the meter at my cost, but usually they read higher after that”

So, here I sit “grateful” I’m getting screwed.

I’d like to thank all the government entities involved in “deregulation” to make my life better :rolleyes:
 
BillR said:
Since this thread is resurrected I need to make a change to my original post. After a major battle with PPL (my loveable electric provider) and the PUC (no explanation needed) it turns out after both entities “translated” my bill into understandable terms I actually pay $.10 per KWH.

It better explains the “cost” but the rate is outrageous.

Their (the power company and PUC) combined answer to me is:

“First, be glad it’s not higher”

“Second, we will be glad to test the meter at my cost, but usually they read higher after that”

So, here I sit “grateful” I’m getting screwed.

I’d like to thank all the government entities involved in “deregulation” to make my life better :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Let me guess: your billing sequence looks like mine from the first page?

Basic rate
Fuel surcharge
Line surcharge
State / federal environmental charges and TAX

I get a pass on item #3, only because the town owns our physical plant (generators, overhead lines and grid interconnect). Speaking of owned, did the nice PUC drones mention anything about the PJM connection? During peak power episodes, you may actually be getting power from my employer, since we are part of the PJM (Pennsylvania - Jersey - MD) cogeneration grid.

There are days that make me wonder what's going on in the Northeast. I'll be sitting in my office on a bright, clear and cool day, and gradually realize the building is shuddering from all the diesel generators in Plant #1 running at full stretch. It's not the actual engine vibration doing the shaking, it's the exhaust. Because the engines are running at an exact RPM to maintain line frequency, they tend more than not to sync on exhaust pulse as well. You can SEE the glass wall of the 3-story atrium vibrating in phase. :eek:

Let's see your Logitech subwoofer do THAT. :D
 
I finally looked at the rate that I'm getting, and it looks like $.06 per kwh. So far this summer, we had our largest bill, $81.11, and that's with 5 boxen and the AC on full tilt. I guess I'm pretty lucky when it comes down to it.

 
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