Filed under: Utilities

7 ways to reduce your PC's power consumption

by Brad Linder (RSS feed) Oct 15th 2007 at 2:00PM

Vista power options
Sometimes it might seem hard to be a computer geek who cares about the environment. On the one hand, you understand the need to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. On the other hand you want power-hungry computers and gadgets running in every room in the house (you know, so you can shop or watch YouTube while you're in the shower).

Since today is Blog Action Day, we're going to take a look at a few ways to make your PC a bit more energy efficient.

  1. You don't need to leave your PC on all night to download a file, finish a task, or perform an automated backup. You can use the Schedule Tasks feature in Windows Vista or XP to wake your computer from sleep mode if you want to perform a regular task like a backup in the middle of the night.
  2. If the only reason you leave your PC on at night because you need to finish downloading a file, check out the Auto Shutdown add-on for Firefox. It will automatically power your PC down after all files are finished downloading.
  3. If you're not using Firefox but still want to schedule a shutdown, check out Shutdown After and Winoff. Whether you're downloading a BitTorrent file or rendering a video file, you probably know roughly how long it will take to finish that task. Just schedule your PC to shutdown, hibernate, or sleep shortly after the task should be finished.
  4. Upgrade to Windows Vista. Yeah, we know, there are a lot of reasons not to "upgrade." But Windows Vista gives you far more control over your power settings than Windows XP. In fact, you may be able to save up to $75 a year on your electric bill simply by running Vista in "balanced mode," which means your CPU will be throttled down when you're performing less CPU-intensive tasks.
  5. If you've already got Windows Vista, you can use Vista Battery Saver to save even more energy when your PC is unplugged. This tiny application lets you set profiles for when your PC is plugged in and when it's unplugged. But more importantly, it lets you turn off the Aero interface, the Sidebar, and automatically dim the backlight when your PC is unplugged. This makes your battery last a bit longer, which in turn means you spend less time charging your battery and sucking energy from the grid.
  6. CO2Saver is an application that runs in the background of Windows XP and Vista machines and adjusts your power settings automatically. If you haven't used your PC for a while, CO2 Saver will jump in and lower your performance settings.
  7. You can also save some energy simply by turning off your screen saver. Once upon a time screen savers helped protect monitors from damage. Now they just suck electricity. Setting your screen saver to "blank" will cause a blank screen to pop up when you haven't touched your keyboard or mouse for a while.
Of course, if you just can't find a way to cut back on your PC's energy use, there are other ways to help the environment. For example, you could consider buying your electricity from an alternative energy program. Odds are you'll find information on your local power company's website. For example, ConEdison maintains the energy choice website Power Your Way.

Tags: blog action day, blog-action-day, BlogActionDay