Power consumption of PC setup?

[frosty]

Title says at all really.

I am trying to establish the combined power consumption in Watts of my PC /screen /speakers / printer.

I have looked for the figures on the labels stuck on the back of the individual items, but they don't have the information.

I normally leave my PC on all day and I am starting to think it uses more electricity than I thought. Turning it off just for a couple of hours a day could really save some money over the year. Currently we pay 12p per KWhr.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[louie]

Each item should have the nominal power consumption on its label, I don't know why yours do not. However, these labels often list consumption for one general set of conditions, so yours may draw more or less.

A good way to measure is to buy a Kill-a-watt meter like this.

BTW, how much is 12p in Euro or US$?

 

[frosty]

Thanks for the link. I've not seen anything like that before. I will have to see if I can get something similar here in the UK.

12p is about 24 cents. It's a lot.

 

[bhds]

I have a kill a watt meter and it's a very cool device. I'll see if I can get a baseline on my computer setup later on.

 

[worldedit]

My PC consumes about 50W being at the low end. A normal PC might need 80-120 depending on what CPU, power supply and # of hard drives you got. The other things will have a power supply build in which may take about 10W or more in idle. A normal size display might take 20-30W, double for common monitor.

 

[Tubor]

A meter is the only way to tell how much they are actually using, the figure on the labels is usually the maximum.

 

[frosty]

Thank-you all for your advice.

I'm not too bothered about getting an exact figure for my power consumption. But you have given me a ballpark figure which is appreciated.

It actually appears as though my PC uses less power than I initially thought.

 

[EvilLithiumMan]

I have a Valhalla 2100 Digital Power Analyzer. They are obsolete now, I think list price was $2K. They are available used for $700-$800. When I saw the Kill-a-Watt meter, I could not believe it was anything but a $20 piece of junk. But I was wrong. I bought one and it matches the expensive meter watt-for-watt. Simply amazing. If you have $20 to spare and a mild curiousity about how much power your toys are consuming, the Kill-a-Watt will tell all.