A summary of the data ... Anything that generates heat uses a lot of electricity. "Warmth w/o useful work = Waste" Cheap power supply "bricks" produce a lot of heat (see previous). "Switching" power supplies, such as used with most laptops, waste less. Multi-voltage power supplies are often of the "switching" type. Many devices waste a surprising amount of power when "off" or "idle." One watt of constant current costs at least a dollar a year in California. Specific data ... 2 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBooK: 14W idle (part dim), 29W/23W maxproc/nodisp 17" Core Duo (32b) Intel iMac: 01W/03VA off, 02W/05VA asleep (no FW; 04/08 w/hub), 47W idle (maxbright; 37W minbright), 33W nomon, 68W max(?) 17" 1.9GHz iMac G5: 02W/05VA off, 80W booting, 63W idle, 91W mds, 100W maxproc+maxbright+spotdisk+maxgfx, 09W asleep, 47W idle (nomon?) Sonya's amp/receiver: 2-3W asleep; ~100 w/2 channel & 5 channel output volume doesn't seem to matter much rated for 60W/channel in stereo; 50W/channe in 5 channel surround manual also lists a 72 watt "idle" consumption; didn't see that though it worked its way up to ~100 from the 80s. Sonya's subwoofer: 16W "off"; 18-20W in normal use; 25W @ obnoxious volumes rated for 500W DP 1 GHz w/768 MB of RAM, 2 drives: 6W off (8W w/Cinema Display), 138W idle (no c-disp), 146W busy, 15W sleep (w/c-disp 12W w/o) 1.8 DP G5 tower 1 GB RAM & w/20" LCD: 4W off, 12W asleep, ~180W booting, ~200W no fan control, 294W running CPU-intensive tests (no fans), 180W idle, 1[34]5W nomon (190-145 = 45W for 20" LCD ;p) Dean's readyNAS w/2 disks: 1W off, ~30W booting, max 70W, 44W nom, 25W spundown sef's friend's SparcStation: 24h57m: 1.22kwh (~49W) sef's 1U server: 68W continuous (mostly fans?) sef's old giant TV: 22W off sef's new giant TV: 00W off sef's sparcstation (II?): 49W [thanks Brian] 12" PowerBook G4 1.33Ghz sleep, no external devices 03 awake at password prompt 38 checking out xnu from svn 53 15" Mac Book Pro 2Ghz 2GB sleep, no external devices 06 awake at password prompt 23 checking out xnu from svn 46 building xnu jobs=3 50 GQ 3151 1.7Ghz AMD Geode during boot (active) 60 idle but not sleeping 57 turned off 04 [/Brian] mjm's ThinkPad (T43p): bright 40W, nomon 30W, sleep 0W, win drag 54W Simon's snow airport basestation: 3W "'s linksys WRT54GS wireless router: 6W "'s DirecTV HD Tivo: 50W 24/7x365 ... that's (minimum) $50/year in CA (3x+ max) My doorbell transformer and yard light motion sensor: <1W each! Mac Pro proto w/16 GB of RAM, 3 drives, and an ATI 1900: 2W off, 14W sleep, 260W nom, 241W idle, 248W doze(?), 330W maxproc, 400W maxproc+gfx 8GB of RAM saves ~40W while idle and reduces sleep ~7W (even more busy?) 1 GB of RAM: 6W sleep G73 gfx card & 1 GB RAM: 190W nom, ~238W maxproc, 290W maxproc+gfx Forest's computer center: 340W. "1200 if I power on the SGI Octane :)" Mac mini (1.42GHz): 0W off, 8W idle, 10W nominal (iTunes), 30W max, 1W asleep! typical 20-meter jumbo TV (of LEDs) up to 1.2W/pixel: ~300kW total! 23" Cinema HD display: 30-60 watts when connected to a G5? Quadra 630 w/36 MB: 24W nom, 25W max G5 DP w/17" FP: 295W w/2 sh-loops & max brightness, 278 dim, 266 nomon, 280W w/1 sh-loop, 150W nominal, 114 w/nomon/nodrive, 11W idle sleep projector: 150W running quite brightly. eMac 700 (proto): ~110W booting, ~95W idle, ~1W off, ~7W asleep, 80W nomon xserv: 163W w/4 drives; 11W sleep; 220+W spinning up; 7W off (!) squeaky light spinner: 27W Jackie's fan: 16W lo, 22W hi Tim's rice cooker: 675W Alan's C64: 37W Tom's radio: 6W always ... 7W radio Josh's toaster: 888W Wayne's electric grill: 944W PDP-11: 181W G4 800DP w/17" LCD: 153W max, 134W dim (linear), 10W sl, 115W nomon, 9W off old 17" multi-scan monitor: 3W sl/off, 75W black, 90W white, 80W nom G4 DP w/15" studio disp - 8W off, 20W sl, 60W monsl (59W nomon), 77-85W run Dasie's TiVo - 20W solid, $.149, HD always running! bird house fridge - 64.6W avg, 80/40W lights, 800W max?, 150W nominal? B&W G3 350 running OS 8.6 - 62W running, 45W dozing, 51W drives off Mac G3 233 running OS 9 - 36W running, 31W sleeping new cheap Fridgidare - 41W avg, ~130W running, 1.57KWH / 38.2H, 40W light, 18.3c paraffin bath - 150W, .439KWH / 16.2H, 5.1c old GE fridge - ~290W, 1.31 KWH / 31.4H, 15.3c (avg is only 41W in winter) 8 April: 3.58 kWh / 77.6h (46W avg) garage door opening - 7W phantom, 120W lights, 550W when moving door duo supply - <1W no load old TV - 7W off, 50-80W on Neel's stereo - 4W off, 50W+ on (weird that 7+4 phantom = 8 phantom total) Duo 230c - 18W max w/charging, 10W no battery, 6W slow processor Mac SE - 45W continuous post startup furnace - 7W off, 7.26 Kwh for 104 hours, 84.2 cents Jim's fridge - 90 Wh in 3:20 and drew 75W when on. Tim's fridge - 72 Wh in 3:30 and drew 88W (smaller fridge, shorter cycle). Jon's toaster - 1.5kW; 75Wh to make a bagel Jon's microwave - 1.2kW running; 28W door open; 4-5W idle w/clock McCaw cellular mansion - 67kW 24x7x365 dryer on medium heat: 16:32 - 72.2 kWh, 17:04 - 73.9 kWh, 18:03 - 76.2 kWh Recton AC adaptor for firewire drive: 1W six assorted conversion bricks: 20W PS2: off at switch - 0W, standby - 2W, nominal running - 30W, active - 45W rice cooker - 320W, 107Wh in 30 minutes, 1.2 cents 405 kWh @18:10 on 25 March 051 kWh on 3 March? 425.8 kWh on 26 march @14:25 427.1 kWh on " at 18:35 ... had been running dryer