Saving Energy - Public Works - Department of Administration

Conserving Energy

Computers

Computers are a crucial part of today's workplace, and they are major consumers of energy. There are two simple steps that minimize unnecessary energy expenditure of computers.

Energy savings estimate for one computer: Monitor 2 Amps, Processor 3 Amps, 30% efficiency. 180 Watts x 15 hours per day x 5 days x 52 weeks/1000 Watts per kW = 700 kW year savings, or $35 per year per computer (based on $0.05 per kWh). Calculations were received from data provided by Idaho Power publication ESD-263.

If you consider how many computers are in your building, or in the Capitol Mall, or in all State buildings, it's easy to see how this can add up to BIG energy savings!

Power down your computer at night and over weekends. It requires less energy to boot up a computer in the morning than to leave it running all night.
Set your computer energy savings setting to 15 or 30 minutes. This will shut down your monitor and hard drive if you leave your desk for an extended period of time, such as at lunch. Avoid the use of screen savers, which require your hard drive and monitor to continue running and using energy.

Energy Saving Features

The instructions below are generally applicable to most Windows-operated computers. If your computer is different, or if you need further assistance in setting up energy saving features on your computer, contact your agencies Information Technology specialists.

Remember, this is not powering down your computer completely, it is merely turning off the monitor and hard disks temporarily. All you have to do to "wake up" your computer from this energy saving slumber is press a key on the keyboard.

Click here for a printable version of these instructions

Click on the "Start" button in the lower left corner of the screen.

Select "Settings," then click "Control Panel."

In Control Panel, double-click "Power Management."

Under "Power schemes," select "Always On" from the drop-down list.

Under "Settings for always on power scheme," look for two drop-down lists, one labeled "Turn off monitor," and one labeled "Turn off hard disks." From each list, select the amount of time you would like your computer to wait before entering energy savings mode. Fifteen minutes is recommended for both. The lower the times you select, the sooner your monitor and hard disks power down, and the more energy you save.

For more information regarding this page, please email the Facilities Management or call 208.332.1900.