Monitors and power draw

[david at thekramers.net (David Kramer)]

On Thu, 15 Nov 2001, mike ledoux wrote:
> I've noticed the same thing in many of my workplaces.  I used to go
> around and turn off monitors when I left, but my current office is
> just too large--it would take me about 30 minutes to walk around and
> shut off all the monitors when I leave.

I go to the other extreme as most people.  Since I'm into all the home
automation stuff, I bring in a motion sensor and trigger my monitor and
fan off of it.  They stay on for 20 minutes after the last movement
sensed, to prevent bonking the monitor off and on every time I went for
another caffeine injection or to speak to someone.

> The worst thing about it is that by and large those that leave their
> montors on 24/7 are the same people who can't be bothered to
> lock/blank their screens, and disable any 'annoying' power saving
> features.  By my observations, the calculation should be (assuming the
> 100W/30W figures are accurate):

I wonder what the cost savings would be if a company did a real simple
setup with an X10 appliance module on every monitor (about $12), and send
out a master ping at 7pm to turn off all the monitors, and turn them back
on at 8:00am.  If you're working late, just turn yours back on again while
you work.  There's no good, save, automated way to shut down the computers
automatically, but shutting off the monitors would be a big help.  And
pre-heater on the coffee maker.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
DDDD   David Kramer                           http://thekramers.net
DK KD  "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any
DKK D  invention in human history--with the possible exceptions
DK KD  of handguns and tequila."                     Mitch Ratliffe
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