OMG, it's the power bill from hell!

[AlabamaCajun]

We got the power bill after a month of folding, wasn't that bad. What did happen though was I used more air conditioning by working at the computers, yes plural, while folding for the past month and billing cycle. it was about $25 higher than it would be considering temerature and total sun days. What I figured out from computing the total wattage of rigs running 24/7 is as follows.

P4-2.6, 120 watts. (wattage meter).
A64-3200, 85 watts (onboard video). (based on board, driver, memory and 90nm processor)
Barton 3000XP - 75 watts. (approximated for 3000+XP,Mobo,Memory and drives).

Total watts 280 x 24hours 6.72 KW hours per day X 30days 201.6 KWH per month.
Assuming 8.25 US Cents, 201.6 x 0.0825 comes to about US$16.63 for one months folding 24/7.
Add in about $3 to $6 for airconditioning and you are only $20 and some change, money well spent.

This is where I would like to build a 4-mobo folding farm, I could have 4 efficient processors with 256Meg of good memory with no video using the A64 as a server. Total wattage would still be about 200-300 watts. Less than what it costs to run some CRTs.

[Ven0m]

How did you check power consumption?

[AlabamaCajun]

My P4 has a wattage meter on it, the other 2 I used the specs to get the results. Using the last 5 years of bills also helped verify that the numbers were close.

[Ven0m]

That power consumption is lower than I expected, thanks for info.
Perhaps I should get / make Watt meter too...

[TollhouseFrank]

i wish we had powerbills that low...

bills of over $100 are common for normal usage here... power ... aka 24/7 folding can make it nearly $200 a month

[ghettocomp]

i wish we had powerbills that low...

bills of over $100 are common for normal usage here... power ... aka 24/7 folding can make it nearly $200 a month

I wish my elextrik bill was that low... Normal billing during summer months for me used top be around $400-500, of course size of house makes the difference as well.
Fortunately the power company offeres a balanced billing - meaning that I will pay close to the same amount every month, no surprise high power bills. they average total power comsumption through the year and I get to pay the average. :thup: :cool:

[Silver]

$195 and change this month :eh?:

[AlabamaCajun]

200 with 8 tons of AC cooling 3100 sqft of an 1870's Antebellum. This is only running 3 rigs 24/7 with monitors off except one monitor is on for 6-10 hours a day. Each rig only has a single drive and only one is OCed. The rest of the info is in my SIG.
BTW May was cool this year in the southern states so actual bill was lower than normal.

[veryhumid]

That power consumption is lower than I expected, thanks for info.
Perhaps I should get / make Watt meter too...

yeah seasonic makes a good model called the power angel to check electrical draw and voltage. It also reads KWH, Amps and frequency. even my 3.4EE at full load only draws about 275 with 4 hard drives. and that is AC power! gaming might take that up another 70 watts or so, but that is it. Which is around 230Watts or so DC power (power the PSU is actually making for the comp, the rest is heat).

[orionlion82]

i allmost wanna do that. ive got a wattage meter , but its on a Xantrex Xpower.

that means Battery>Inverter>modified sine wave.
it can do 320W continous
400W for 5 min
600W surge.

now, if you overload the thing, it just kicks out, so its not like i could let the smoke out of anything, worst possible being data corruption.

however, its not grounded (3 prong plugs though) , and its modified sine wave.

too risky or should i give it a try?

[ryufreak]

$214/month. Factor in central air, TV, and 3 computers running 24/7, it makes sense.

[AlabamaCajun]

yeah seasonic makes a good model called the power angel to check electrical draw and voltage. It also reads KWH, Amps and frequency. even my 3.4EE at full load only draws about 275 with 4 hard drives. and that is AC power! gaming might take that up another 70 watts or so, but that is it. Which is around 230Watts or so DC power (power the PSU is actually making for the comp, the rest is heat).
Ok, VH, you got me - DOH! - forgot to factor loss. I would bet a stick of 486 memory that the PSU meter is not accounting for the 25% lose on the way to the molex plugs.

[pik4chu]

ouch, makes me glad I dont own a house :-/

for my apartment with average of 4 rigs running at once it was ~40-50 bucks during the winter, often less. And during the summer it was 50-60.

[Ven0m]

yeah seasonic makes a good model called the power angel to check electrical draw and voltage. It also reads KWH, Amps and frequency. even my 3.4EE at full load only draws about 275 with 4 hard drives. and that is AC power! gaming might take that up another 70 watts or so, but that is it. Which is around 230Watts or so DC power (power the PSU is actually making for the comp, the rest is heat).

Thanks for info, but Seasonic stuff is almost impossible to get here; I'll just try to get normal Watt meter or just make one using volt- and ampter-o-meters

[mjw21a]

I fold other peoples systems. I get $220 per month power bills even without folding at home. I think my room mate keeps using her electric heater. I don't use heaters as they make my computer run too hot.