Kill-A-Watt

[Kevin L]

To those who have a Kill-A-Watt or other power monitoring device, have you checked to see what a PC/Server uses? Im thinking along the lines of the servers running CQC or Homeseer and those for Sage TV or other for media - not a power hungry Cray supercomputer.

I don't have a Kill-A-Watt or other device, but newer PCs/Servers are getting more efficient, or can be. However, for HomeSeer I use the HomeTroller 2, that, IIRC, uses about 13 watts.

Kevin

 

[damage]

Even your numbers are impressive to me. As said, Im in a ~1500sq ft home and Im using roughly 50kWH/day (40kWH/day this month), and I dont have a pool (one of the things that I would consider to eat into usage) and I dont have servers/NAS/22HDDs running 24/7.

A pool is fairly common to have, so w/o considering that to be a "cocooners device", do you think you could realistically cut your power in half w/o eliminating NECESSARY appliances?

we converted all our halogen lighting and most incandescent to CF. where we once had 500W of halogen in our FR, we're down to 52W of CF, etc. that was a major energy saver.

 

[damage]

To those who have a Kill-A-Watt or other power monitoring device, have you checked to see what a PC/Server uses? Im thinking along the lines of the servers running CQC or Homeseer and those for Sage TV or other for media - not a power hungry Cray supercomputer.

I don't have a Kill-A-Watt or other device, but newer PCs/Servers are getting more efficient, or can be. However, for HomeSeer I use the HomeTroller 2, that, IIRC, uses about 13 watts.

Kevin

i did some measurements on several devices a few months back after i installed my ecm-1240:
HA server (e6420+3hds+UPS+W800+RFID rcvr) 120W
Camera server (d201gly2+2hds+UPS+switch) 60W
Sage server (e5200+2hds) 50W
Samsung directivo+UPS 44W
ip camera 7W
SageTV 7W
Slingbox pro 7W
cable modem+UPS+a couple cameras 22W
HDHomerun 5W
Roomba 7W
10" digital picture frame 16W
squeezebox 5W
router 8W
10/100 switches 5-7W
T5700 thin client 6W
3com audrey 10W
...and so on

taking into account multiple slingboxes, audreys, squeezeboxes, at least 10 ethernet switches, etc. i found my gadgets alone use 500W of the 700W my house uses when nobody's home.

 

[Kevin L]

taking into account multiple slingboxes, audreys, squeezeboxes, at least 10 ethernet switches, etc. i found my gadgets alone use 500W of the 700W my house uses when nobody's home.

I don't doubt that. I have numerous UPSes, switches, routers, IP cams, etc., that all add up to a considerable amount. With some careful planning, I could likely eliminate a couple, but I already have them, and it's not worth the trouble or time.

One thing I did when designing my home was to take into consideration the heat all this equipment generates. So I have nearly all equipment: HA panels, servers, HT equipment (amps, dvrs, power conditioners, etc.) inside a separate closet with a thermostatically controlled exhaust fan. In my previous home, all this equipment greatly increased the load on the central air, but since that was in NY, it was offset by the heat it added in the winter, reducing the load on the heating system. Now that I'm in Florida, the load on the A/C would be greater without the offset of heat savings. Plus, it's neater and quieter with everything tucked away.

Kevin