Are you worried about the expense that represents best before date of the computer? Here we will clarify your doubts about it.
Computer consumption
To talk about him best before date of the computer, we must first know the energy consumption of each of the components separately.
In this way, we can say that the graphics card is the element with the highest energy consumption when the computer is running, while the processor is the second on the list and the RAM is the component with the lowest consumption.
On the other hand, hard drives can be considered as low consumption, especially DSS. As for the amount of energy that HDDs consume, it depends on their capacity, but it is far from being considered high. However, a computer is made up of other elements, such as: keyboard, mouse, motherboard and fans, all of them energy consumers.
Thus, to know the level of consumption of the entire system, it is enough to add up each of the individual consumptions. For example, the motherboard can consume approximately six watts (w), a simple keyboard 3 w, a mouse one watt, while each fan consumes three watts.
In this regard, we must warn that contrary to what many people believe, the power supply also consumes energy, since none is capable of transforming all the electrical energy it receives from the plug, estimating for them an efficiency level of approximately 85% .
Of course, the result is also influenced by other factors such as the range of the equipment, its year of manufacture and its use. For the purposes of this article we will recreate two basic assumptions:
First case
In this case, we assume that we have a mid-range computer that, for five hours of daily use, consumes an average of 180 watts. To this we add the average consumption of a monitor, which is located at 40 watts.
Then the system consumes a total of 220 watts per day, at a rate of five hours a day, that is, the final energy consumption is 1,1 kw / h when it is turned on.
Similarly, we calculate the best before date of the computer when the computer is off for the rest of the day. Thus we have that the energy level of the system is located at 4 watts, for 19 hours a day. Which means a total of 0 kw / h.
Now, if we add the previous results, we will know the total consumption of the computer under the pre-established conditions. Thus, we have that this is located at 1,176 kw / h.
Second case
Here we will simulate that we have a high mid-range computer, which remains on for eight hours a day, and consumes an average of 400 watts. To justify the high level of consumption that we are establishing, we will say that it is a gaming team.
When the computer is on, it consumes around 400 watts for eight hours a day, which is the same as saying that the average power consumption is 3,52 kw / h. While when it is off or in rest, the average consumption decreases to 0,064 kw / h, the result of multiplying 4 watts by 16 hours per day.
Now, after completing the calculations according to each of the circumstances of the day, the computer described above consumes a total of 3,584 kW / h.
What to do to reduce the electricity consumption of a computer?
El best before date of the computer it translates into spending money, which is worrying in countries where electricity service is expensive, such as: Spain. For this reason, below we will tell you what measures to adopt to reduce this consumption.
One of the first considerations that we must take is to get used to putting the computer in rest, if we do not plan to continue using it for a certain period of time, for example, during lunch or while we attend a telephone call that could be extended.
For portable computers, it is best to disconnect them from the power source during that time. When we finish working with the computer, either in our home or office, we must turn it off completely.
We must always remember to turn off the computer monitor, since this is one of the components that uses the highest energy consumption, which influences the level of total consumption. Another important factor that we must take into account is the number of peripherals or external devices that we keep connected to the computer, because the greater the number, the more energy the equipment will have to consume in order to satisfy the requirements of each of them.
It is also important to take care of the state in which these external devices are located, since the more efficient they are, the lower the electrical energy consumption they cause.
On the subject you may also be interested in the article how does a computer work. Don't stop reading it!