Power User: a guide to saving money
I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an environmentalist.
I am, however, someone who likes to squeeze every last ounce of efficiency from everything I do. I may not be an engineer, but I really appreciate a clean design. I especially like this in my computers and gaming systems. Because of this philosophy, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to improve the usage of my time, squeeze out some extra gas mileage, or get a bit more performance from my PC.
Frankly, it’s more fun to me to take an old PC, car, office and see how efficient I can make it than going out and buying something brand new. But there’s one area that I’ve really been neglecting: power usage. While I’ve always turned out the lights as I leave the room, I never really decided to get “energy efficient.” It just wasn’t a major concern for me.
But as the economy tanks, and job prospects look grim, squeezing every nickel out of our lifestyles is becoming more attractive. So while I may not be an environmentalist, I do like money!
So how do we get more energy efficient? Well a good place to start is Google’s power calculator. According to this calculator, I could save close to $300 just by making a few changes to how I power down my computers and consoles. Which means I could buy 6 brand new PC games, 30 used games, or 1 new console by this time next year.
What’s not to like about that?
A couple of useful tips from Green Home Huddle:
- 1. Unplug your devices
- 2. Plug your devices and chargers into a power strip
- 3. Remove chargers from the wall when you’re not charging
And then a few not so much from Climate Savers:
- 1. Turn down the brightness setting on your monitor
- 2. Use a laptop instead of a desktop
- 3. Trade in a computer for a rock and some crayons
Ok, so maybe that last one wasn’t really their suggestion.
If you want to turn down your monitor’s brightness or use a laptop instead of a PC, go for it. But that’s just not for me. Energy is made to be used, and so I intend to use it to power my entertainment. I’m all for saving money and reducing the impact to the environment, but not at the cost of my gaming experience.
How about you? Do you have any good power saving techniques?