Holiday Tech Cravings And Power Savings, Part Deux
Continuing the ‘power-thrifty holiday presents’ theme I began last Friday, let’s first look more closely at the computers (and computer architecture-derived gear) I mentioned in this series’ initial post. I know many people who leave their computers on all the time and don’t even bother enabling the displays’ low-power modes…the glow from my neighbors’ system’s monitor, for example, emanates from one room’s window day and night.
Excuses I’ve heard for this power-wasting behaviour include:
- It takes too long for the computer to turn on
- Any power saved by having the computer off (or alternatively in standby) is more than counterbalanced by the surge of power needed to wake it up, and
- Turning the computer on and off all the time prematurely limits its lifetime, versus leaving it on all the time
The first excuse, I suspect, is primarily the product of ignorance; these folks apparently don’t know about standby mode as an alternative to a full shutdown (or they’ve alternatively disregarded i.e. consciously disabled it, as modern versions of both OS X and Windows enable standby after a period of inactivity by default…though OEMs also might override Microsoft’s power management defaults). Granted, standby’s not a universal panacea; I’ve had desktop PCs, for example, that kept the system fans loudly spinning and the USB mouse illuminated while the computer was supposedly sleeping, and many of us have probably encountered systems that didn’t reliably enter and/or exit standby.
When standby works as intended, though, it provides an approximation of full-off power draw combined with a much more rapid comparative ‘boot’ time. Regarding the other excuses I offered in the above list, InfoWorld recently published an informative summary of a Forrester report (thanks to Slashdot for the heads-up) that debunks them. To minimize Windows-based computer power draw in normal operation, check out a free utility called Edison (thanks to Lifehacker for the heads-up).
What affect are energy-consuming PCs and other AC-fueled consumer electronics equipment are having on the national power grid? Slashdot points out that a second clear ‘hump’ in peak power demand is emerging late at night when all that gear gets turned on, following in the footsteps of the well-known first ‘hump’ late in the afternoon when air conditioning switches on across the country. On that note, and extending my longstanding daylight saving time series, continued Indiana analysis confirms past studies’ conclusions that DST wastes incremental power versus not having it at all.
Regarding the power sources that feed into the utility grid, validation for my regular wind power coverage comes from Stanford University, who rates both it, solar and geothermal at the top of a list (more from Ars Technica and Wired) generated by a study comparing power alternatives (for both electricity and vehicles) not just on their raw energy potential, but also via criteria that judges ‘their impacts on global warming, human health, energy security, water supply, space requirements, wildlife, water pollution, reliability, and sustainability."
Coal, perhaps not surprisingly, is at the bottom of the list (even worse than oil) in spite of its supposed plentitude…the magnitude of which is in dispute. And although (as my two-year-old feature article and its online addendum series point out) both wind and solar (along with, for that matter, hydro) power deliver inconsistent supply across a given day as well as from season to season, some scientists still believe that today’s power grid could encompass them beyond the 20%-max threshold presently believed to be the limit.
Speaking of vehicles, I’ll wrap up with a few thoughts about automobiles, which many of you will probably be using to visit friends and family members in the days ahead. Just a few months ago, when gas broke through the $4-per-gallon mark (and past $5/gallon in rural mountain areas), I mentioned that I’d noticed a distinct shift in most drivers’ behaviors; both in the numbers of vehicles on the road and the average per-vehicle speed.
Petroleum prices have recently (albeit, I suspect, temporarily) plummeted in the face of decreasing demand, of course, and not surprisingly drivers’ previous habits have resurfaced. Whether or not those habits (at least with respect to average speed) are bad, and if so to what degree, is less clear than you might think would be the case. Another victim of falling fuel fiscal fortunes (along with the broader economic crisis), however, is more obviously disappointing; biofuel research has abruptly dried up. Human beings, after all, are notoriously short-sighted creatures…
On that note, I’ll confess that based on something I did Saturday, many of you might find me to be particularly naive about Peak Oil’s probability (along with hypocritical, given my longstanding ‘green’ advocacy). I decided to replace my 13 year old 4WD Toyota Rav4…with a 2005 4WD Jeep Liberty Renegade:
The Rav4 was still running pretty well, but with 164,000 miles on it, I feared the time at which it’d need major maintenance was looming on the horizon. It exhibited some minor annoyances…such as the fact that the driver’s side door regularly froze shut and, when I could open it, I was subsequently often unable to re-latch it. 
And having made it through one full winter with a vehicle equipped with a 2 liter V4 engine, I decided I needed something beefier (for perhaps obvious reasons)…therefore the Jeep’s 3.7L V6.
You might assume that the new car will get worse average mileage, but I’m not so sure. Both vehicles have manual transmissions…in the Jeep’s case, a six-speed (it was hard to find a Jeep Liberty without an automatic transmission!). And since I work from home, most of the mileage I put on a vehicle comes from highway driving. Because of the Rav4’s light weight and diminutive power plant, I needed to put studded snow tires on the vehicle six months out of the year, which noticeably increased vehicle drag (thereby decreasing highway mileage). And even with regular tires on the Rav4, I used to need to downshift from 5th to 4th gear in order to climb even moderately steep grades without losing speed.
The Jeep Liberty’s heavier weight and more powerful motor will, I believe, allow me to keep conventional studless all-weather tires on it year-round. And it had absolutely no problems popping over Donner Pass in 6th gear Saturday night. Internet posters claim, on various forums, that conservative driving techniques enable them to get 25 (or more) MPG on the highway with their Jeep Liberty Renegades. I’ll report back after I collect a few months’ worth of data on the new vehicle.
p.s…Speaking of snow, does anyone want to lay odds on whether or not I make it to CES on time this time?
Brian Dipert commented:
jfl commented:
