Energy Saving |
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PC / Laptop One of the unfortunate effects of modern multi-core processor based PCs is the rapidly increasing amount energy they consume. Whilst manufacturers are coming up with ever more intricate solutions to reduce the problem, machine users must be aware of this issue and play a responsible part in PC use. Over the past 5 years machine average power requirements have almost doubled from 300w to 550w. Dual and Quad core processors, operating system RAM requirement, hard disc size and display sizes have increased almost exponentially to create the modern high performance but power hungry machine. From a user’s perspective, tight controlled use of the operating system power saving tools is all important. Here, there are normally 4 elements which can be used to conserve power. These can be described in order of saving. A controlling factor in the use of these is the amount of time required to recover to full machine working: 1 Display brightness. Moderate the settings of the brightness and contrast setting to the minimum comfortable setting. Where available by the operation system, allow the screen to dim after a reasonably short period of time. 2 Screen Saver. Modern LCD or plasma monitors do not require screen saver, these was a requirement of Cathode Ray Tube heavy glass tube monitors. Using a screen saver has only a small effect on power consumption. 3 Display standby. Set the operating system power setting to go to monitor standby which will turn off the monitor back light. This is power efficient and quick to recover to a work machine. This should be done if the machine is left unattended for 5 minutes. 4 PC sleep modes. In most PC and laptop operating systems there are four levels of sleep. These are described as sleep states as: S1 = Basic Standby (Shallow sleep). Typically wakes up in no more than two seconds. S2 = Less power consumption than S1 and greater than in S3. Wake up is usually two seconds or slightly more. S3 = Less power consumption than in S2. Wake up time is the same as S2. S4 (hibernate) = The lowest power state but with a long wake up time - sometimes a few minutes or more. These by degree reduce processor activity, store the RAM cache to hard drive, stop the hard drive from spinning and power down to hibernation.
 In addition, The ICT Practice can make available a USB green button called the ecobutton. This saves power on demand by the PC user by placing the PC in a standby mode S3, closing down the monitor and reducing processor, RAM and disc drive to a minimum. It is the quickest recovery from power saving without going to full hibernation. Ecobutton has the added advantage of supplying a physical monitor which is displayed on power up. This displays accumulatively the energy saved in watts and in money.
For your free ecobutton please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Work Groups In locations where several PC users are working in close proximity, and particularly where their work entails light processor work as for example call centres, school classrooms, or office administration functions, consider using a shared PC. This is where up to 6 users, each with a separate screen, keyboard and mouse, can use the power of the modern PC in up to 6 separate sessions. This solution drastically reduces energy consumption by using one PC where 6 would have been. The solution called SoftExpand uses the WinLogon application within Microsoft XP to create up to 6 simultaneous user sessions, each is independent without interference from other users. For more information on MiniFrame low energy solutions contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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