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kick52 · Jun 24, 2006, 02:37 PM

Hi.

I want to keep my mac on sleep more, and my mum is worried about the cost of my sawtooth running normaly and on sleep. how much does it cost to have my sawtooth running on sleep for an hour?

thanks,
tim

EDIT: I have googled.

production_coordinator · Jun 24, 2006, 02:50 PM

If I remember correctly, it's cheaper to keep it on all the time [with power mode on [spinning down the HD, etc. etc.] as compared to turning it on/off once a day. Powering up your Mac consumes a good amount of electricity.

kick52 · Jun 24, 2006, 03:09 PM

oh right.
by "with power mode on" do you mean sleep?

production_coordinator · Jun 24, 2006, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by kick52

oh right.
by "with power mode on" do you mean sleep?

Yes... you can set it to sleep in different ways.

kick52 · Jun 24, 2006, 03:22 PM

is deep sleep (eg, no HD, no fan, no sound, no processing) the best at power saving?

Uriel · Jun 24, 2006, 03:30 PM

yes

kick52 · Jun 24, 2006, 03:34 PM

i suppose i'll need to find the spec sheet to work out how much it actually costs.

but would having my sawtooth on most of the time actually make a really big dent in the energy bill?

willed · Jun 24, 2006, 03:57 PM

Bear in mind that an iBook or PowerBook can stay in sleep mode for ages without being recharged (i.e. probably about a week? I've never tried more than a couple of days). On sleep, Macs use almost no power.

alligator · Jun 24, 2006, 04:24 PM

My PowerMac G5 uses 2-3 watts when asleep. That's less than a small night light. That isn't much at all - I wouldn't worry about it.

production_coordinator · Jun 24, 2006, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by alligator

My PowerMac G5 uses 2-3 watts when asleep. That's less than a small night light. That isn't much at all - I wouldn't worry about it.

At 2-3 wats... it would be something like 4¢ for 24 hours.

Just give your mother $5 and say... "there... I'm paid up for the year"

bradoesch · Jun 25, 2006, 05:53 AM

Don't forget your Mac still draws power when turned off. I'm not sure how much a Sawtooth draws, but I found this graph on Apple's site about laptop power adapters.

King Bob On The Cob · Jun 25, 2006, 06:26 AM

Originally Posted by willed

Bear in mind that an iBook or PowerBook can stay in sleep mode for ages without being recharged (i.e. probably about a week? I've never tried more than a couple of days). On sleep, Macs use almost no power.

Macs picked up the "Hibernate" feature from windows for the time being. So if you have a new model Mac, and it totally runs out of power, no sweat, just let it boot back up, and it'll be just like nothing happened.

DeathToWindows · Jun 25, 2006, 07:11 AM

Earlier, someone asked how long a powerbook can go in sleep without croaking; my 12" was known to go ~3wks in sleep in my desk drawer.

If you're doing that, make sure the latch can't be tripped... because it'll wake up the unit.

thestig · Jun 25, 2006, 08:44 AM

If you had a multimeter you could find out exactly.

UNTeMac · Jun 25, 2006, 09:10 AM

Power-saving features on computers are really for offices who run huge numbers of machines or if your machine has a battery. Your house's power bill is something like 75% climate control and 15% large appliances (oven, stove, dryer, etc). Everything else is pocket change in comparison.

Eug Wanker · Jun 25, 2006, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

If I remember correctly, it's cheaper to keep it on all the time [with power mode on [spinning down the HD, etc. etc.] as compared to turning it on/off once a day. Powering up your Mac consumes a good amount of electricity.

That is false.

Everyone says that for some reason. It's become something of an urban legend.

SirCastor · Jun 25, 2006, 09:25 AM

I think it comes from the old ' turning your car on consumes more gas than letting it idle for 5 minutes" thing...

Scifience · Jun 25, 2006, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by UNTeMac

Power-saving features on computers are really for offices who run huge numbers of machines or if your machine has a battery. Your house's power bill is something like 75% climate control and 15% large appliances (oven, stove, dryer, etc). Everything else is pocket change in comparison.

Not at my house.

My electric bill is $220 a month. Before I started running four 24-port GigE switches, a T1 router, four servers, two laser printers, and six workstations 24/7, that bill was $40 a month. I wouldn't exactly call that increase "pocket change."

Gossamer · Jun 25, 2006, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by Scifience

Not at my house.

My electric bill is $220 a month. Before I started running four 24-port GigE switches, a T1 router, four servers, two laser printers, and six workstations 24/7, that bill was $40 a month. I wouldn't exactly call that increase "pocket change."

I'm going to go ahead and say you're the exception to the rule.

Oneota · Jun 25, 2006, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Scifience

Not at my house.

My electric bill is $220 a month. Before I started running four 24-port GigE switches, a T1 router, four servers, two laser printers, and six workstations 24/7, that bill was $40 a month. I wouldn't exactly call that increase "pocket change."

Out of curiosity, why are you running a 96-port switch stack for 11 networked devices?

kupan787 · Jun 25, 2006, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by DeathToWindows

Earlier, someone asked how long a powerbook can go in sleep without croaking; my 12" was known to go ~3wks in sleep in my desk drawer.

If you're doing that, make sure the latch can't be tripped... because it'll wake up the unit.

No way. My powerbook 12" hardly lasts a week in sleep mode before having nothing left. My old PowerBook G3, in OS 9, could go weeks at a time though. I mean, just leaving my powerbook asleep over night I lose about 10% of the battery life, and that is for just like 8 hours.

kick52 · Jun 25, 2006, 02:19 PM

thanks alot guys! now im gonna start an uptime thread and see if i can get a week uptime.

Scifience · Jun 25, 2006, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Oneota

Out of curiosity, why are you running a 96-port switch stack for 11 networked devices?

Because I needed managed switches to do what I needed to do, and the ones with fewer ports were not managable.

Also, I was, at the time, toying around with the idea of setting up a neighborhood network with a T3. Instead of going wireless, we would have been running conduit through yards with fiber. Never materialized, unfortunately.

I also got a good deal: $1000 for the four of them.

alligator · Jun 25, 2006, 07:11 PM

I left a Windows laptop in "standby" mode once overnight and it completely drained the battery. I'm happy with my Macs.

imitchellg5 · Jun 27, 2006, 02:43 PM

I have had a PowerBook G4 15 inch asleep for almost 3 weeks and the battery showed about 1 hour left.

UNTeMac · Jun 27, 2006, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Scifience

Not at my house.

My electric bill is $220 a month. Before I started running four 24-port GigE switches, a T1 router, four servers, two laser printers, and six workstations 24/7, that bill was $40 a month. I wouldn't exactly call that increase "pocket change."

Which is why I said:

Power-saving features on computers are really for offices who run huge numbers of machines

10 computers and two printers plus network equipment would certainly qualify you as a company-level power drain. People who have one or two computers only draw about 3-5% of their power bill. Hell, my apartment bill in the summer runs near 200 just because of the air conditioning.

production_coordinator · Jun 27, 2006, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

That is false.

Everyone says that for some reason. It's become something of an urban legend.

Hmmm... actually, this could be debated.

The question would be, how much more energy does a full reboot take as compared to "waking" from a deep sleep.

A G5 consumes under 2W when in full sleep mode. I'm wondering how many watts the reboot diagnostic takes up?

You very well may be correct... there seem to be few sites that explain exactly how they put their computers to sleep.

Eug Wanker · Jun 27, 2006, 04:51 PM

I was talking about reboot vs. leaving the computer on all day, even with spun down HDs and such.

Sleep is another story.