Power Basics
Power, a new focal point The computer industry has revolved around getting faster and smaller for a very long time, but power consumption hasn’t been a real focal point until now. There are plenty of good reasons to focus on it…. Power consumption is expensive. Carbon emissions are harmful to the environment. And we certainly aren’t going to have fewer computers in the future, so we need to find a way to make computers more efficient. What about power We use power to run all of our computers, whether they’re the smallest, thinnest laptops or the most powerful servers. So…what is power? Power defined Power is the rate at which energy is produced or used. Power is usually measured in kilowatts. 1 kilowatt = 1,000 watts. Power measured The most typical measurement used for power is watts. Volts * Amps = Watts An example… An electric device uses 1 watt when 1 volt of electric potential drives 1 ampere of current through it. A light bulb displays its power requirement in watts, such as 60W. For example, a light bulb operating at 60 volts and using 1 ampere consumes 60 watts (60 volts X 1 ampere). Power costs When you add up all the power used by the lights in the house, the dishwasher, the washer, the dryer, the air conditioner and heating system, and all your other household electrical appliances, you have your electrical bill. And of course it is higher in the winter if you use the heat and in the summer, if you use air conditioning. Computers are another electrical device that consumes power. How Does This Affect Me? Decreasing the amount of power computers consume will:
To learn more about the individual power management projects of LessWatts, see our Projects page. |