This is an easy question or at least one that I hope generates a few opinions.
I am the system administrator here as well as my other job. The owner came to me today after six years all excited saying we should turn off all fourteen servers at 6PM and turn them back on at 8AM with the exception of the server. He had just heard that computer energy costs could equal up to 15% to 20% of the total electric bill. I thought this had to be way too high.
I know it is impossible to say exactly how much energy each PC is using, because my guess is it depends on the components, fans, processor speed, etc. And, the monitors are also involved.
Just to give a ballpark figure, we have 14 work stations, 1 server, 4 fairly large HP printers as well as six HP 1020s in each room. We have a copier and a fax machine. Just giving those to put everything into perspective. And, we have 15 LCD flat screen monitors.
Our backup, of course, runs overnight but only on the server. But, we do have Symantec Corporate Edition which scans the server and all of the work stations overnight. I am thinking that most of these scans take about 20 minutes. So, I suppose they could be set to run soon after the computers were turned on, and may not take up that many resources while using the PCs.
Does anyone know in general what the wattage would be? I mean can someone say with good knowledge that the difference would be infinitesimal? And, would setting the "Turn off monitor or turn off hard drives, or sleep mode/hibernation" make any difference? Personally, I have never liked those, but that has been a decision on one computer and not 14.
I suppose it would be easiest to make an educated decision if one knew exactly how much wattage or amperage a PC or monitor was drawing. Then, it could be compared to the bill. I looked around briefly on the net and found the following device. Is this recommended or does anyone know of a better one?
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_reviewFinally, we have APC Backups on every computer. But, it seems like after every storm, we lose a monitor or something goes out -- such as a CPU. Should we have gotten AVRs instead? They seem to be about three times more expensive. And, does turning off the PC decrease the risk of power surges up or down? I know that we have surge protectors, but I think than can be variations from the 115 volts. Or would the actual power cord have to be pulled out? And, what about the Ethernet cables?
Thanks. Sorry for the convoluted question. Any comments would be appreciated.
Bert
