Study looks into costs of leaving PCs running 24/7

A SUBJECT that has buzzed around the Internet recently has been about the cost of running a PC, and the savings businesses can make by enforcing a computer shut-down policy. Some of the figures bandied around in cyberspace are not too accurate – with some of the estimates in foreign currency and at foreign power prices, and not directly translatable into SA terms. But business cost saving has always been a main part of the game, and FTW did its own research into the price and savings surrounding PCs. In its list of the costs of powering electrical appliances, the electricity board of the Durban municipality told FTW that the cost of running a PC is 6.09-cents an hour. Multiply by 24-hours, and you get a cost of R1.46 a day. Multiply by 365-days, and you end up with a total of R532.90 a year, leaving a computer running 24/7. Not a massive amount, but – if you’re a business with 10 PCs – it works out at a cost of R5329.00 a year if your staff are leaving them powered-up 24-hrs a day. And a lot of people admit to doing so – some even confessing to not bothering to switch off even on Friday afternoon at shutting time. If you want to work out the savings that can be made, follow this hypothetical example. Our company, Joe Bloggs and Assocs, has 10 PCs. If the staff follow the computer shutdown policy, each of these would be on only eight hours per business day – as opposed to 24. The cost now would be eight hours times 6.09- c/hr – equals 48.72-c per business day. This times five business days per week, and the weekly total is R2.44. Multiply by 52-weeks (nobody at Joe Bloggs takes any holidays) and you get a cost of R126.88 per PC per year. For his 10 PCs, Bloggs now faces an annual cost of R1 268.80 – R4 060.20 LESS than the R5 329.00 he would have paid running 24/7. Another tip that is floating around relates to screen savers. Because it’s a permanent light source, your VDU screen is a comparatively big power sucker. But the belief that a lot of people hold is that, with a screen saver, you are saving power. Not so, say PC fundis. Screen savers certainly save screens, but do NOT save on electricity. That’s your FTW cost saving tip for this week.