Power LinesI don’t think I really was aware of just how much power my home network consumed until I left the door to my home computer lab (Yes, I have a home computer lab. Stop laughing!) closed one day. I came back a few hours later and was hit by a wall of heat when I opened the door!

I thought to myself, “That has got to be costing me a pretty penny to generate all of that heat!” So, I started to look for ways that I could cut down on the amount of power that my home network was using. Some will save you more power than others but all will have an effect.

I’ve separated these tips into levels of difficulty (Everyone, Geek and Uber-Geek) based on technical skills required.

Everyone

Pretty much everyone should be able to pull these tips off because very few high end technical skills are required.

Turn off monitors when not in use

Monitors, especially old CRT monitors, can consume a lot of energy. Make sure that they are turned off when not in use.

Replace old CRT monitors with LCD monitors

LCD monitors are much more energy efficient that CRT monitors. You can run three LCD monitors for the price of one CRT.

Shut down unused equipment

If it is not being used, turn it off.

Move computer equipment into basement where it is cooler

Keeping your system cooler (without firing up an air conditioner) will allow it to work more efficiently and require less internal cooling. A more efficient system requires less power.

Turn off screen savers

If your monitor is turned off, why do you need a screen saver running? All these things do is use up system resources and increase energy usage. If you do need a screen saver, then make sure that the screen saver just shows a black screen.

Turn down the brightness on your monitor

The brighter your monitor, the more power it consumes.

Buy devices that consume less power

Consider the wattage required for a device when you are purchasing and select devices that use less power.

Geek

These may require some higher end technical skills but many people can perform these task with the right instruction. If you need help, please ask your 12 year old.

Replace old hard drives with new, more efficient drives

Newer hard drives can have better efficiency ratings. Also, their components are less worn meaning that they require less power to run.

Allow the operating system to shut down unused peripherals

This includes wireless cards, modems, monitors, etc.

Allow the operating system to spin down hard drives

Anything that has a motor (i.e. hard drives) automatically consumes more power. The less the motor is used, the less power that is used.

Reduce the number of monitors you use

Connect your computers all up to a KVM switch and use just one monitor. Or configure your system to work with VNC or remote desktop from one central system. The fewer monitors you are using, the less power you are consuming.

Allow laser printers to go into sleep mode or turn off all together when not in use

Laser printers consume a massive amount of power. At one point, I always knew when my wife was printing to her laser printer because all of the lights in the house dimmed (No joke!). Turn it off or let it go into sleep mode at the very least.

Add memory to your computer

The more memory that your system has, the less it needs to use the swap or paging file an the hard drive. The less it uses the hard drive, the less power is consumes.

Disable unused services on your computer

Unused services use up resources. By disabling them, you can then free up these resources and reduce the amount of power your system consumes. Optimizing Your PC has some good suggestions.

Use smaller applications that take up less memory and less hard drive space

If you only need to edit a text file, use Notepad instead of Word. Pick applications that have specific purposes so that they use less resources in general.

Uber-Geek

You are really going to need to know your stuff with some of these suggestions. Stephen Hawking and two rocket scientists were quotes as saying, “Huh??” when they read this list.

Replace hardware systems with virtual systems

Consolidate your hardware into one big system that runs virtual systems on that machine. Some examples of virtual systems that are available at no cost include Microsoft Virtual PC and VMware server.

Replace hard drives with solid state devices such as USB or flash drives

Some operating systems will let you install them on flash or USB drives as opposed to a hard drive. These use way less power!

Shut down systems automatically after they complete daily maintenance

I have my systems performing daily maintenance each night such a defrag and antivirus. Once they are done, they automatically shut themselves down to save power.

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Tim Fehlman