Energy Consumption in the Home – The True Cost of Office Equipment

Sleeping  does not always mean saving.I read a compelling tweet this morning from @Dan_at_Avista that made me think.  Fifty Six Dollars a year in energy costs annually for a home computer that isn’t in sleep mode, heck – even in sleep mode that’s $16 per year in energy costs.I quickly started doing the math… I’ve got at least two to three computers running at any given time; a file server, a laptop and another that I use to test new software and tools on.  Admittedly – I’ve not been the best at turning these off when I’m done, because afterall, it’s just a computer how much harm could it cause.  I’ll tell you what – it’s a tank of gas, per computer, PER YEAR.  That number doesn’t even include the monitor which is $9.20 for an LCD or $37.00 for CRT (not using sleep mode).Other culprits include: Copiers, scanners and printers.  These devices also use power while in sleep mode.  I did the math – my home office costs me about $150.00 per year in unseen energy costs (works out to be a little over one month’s totall bill).   Looks like my to-do list for the weekend just got bigger.Read the full article.