A case study of the energy consumption of desktop computers

The authors present a case study of desktop personal computer energy consumption, and identify two strategies to reduce electricity consumption by the computers and their peripherals. The measured plug loads of the computers and peripherals were 3.4 W/m², much lower than the 14.0 W/m² load calculated from nameplate ratings. Custom software that recorded the time each computer was turned on, and subsequent keyboard activity, was installed on 62 machines. Actual computer use data were recovered from 33 of these machines. There were long periods during both the night and day when the computers were turned on but not being used, indicating that significant savings can be achieved if electricity consumption is more closely tailored to actual use