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Efficient Power Supply Contest

Posted by Hemos on from the energy-star-compliance++ dept.

A reader writes: "In the June (paper) issue of Scientific American, there is a mini-article descibing the energy being wasted by power supplies in computers. Those things are only 60-70% efficient in converting line-voltage AC to low-voltage DC, and there are so many millions of them out there that a modest efficiency increase could trim $1billion or more from the annual energy costs of the USA. Well, various governmental agencies are seeking to get improved power-supply efficiency into the marketplace. The central "clearinghouse" site is at efficientpowersupplies.org, and details of their contest are in this PDF."

8 of 501 comments (clear)

  1. Company Changes... by artlu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Energy costs at a company I worked for in SiValley were becoming such a factor that they dropped the use of all CRT monitors and towers in the work place. They switched us all to thinkpads. Now, on a small level this is very inefficient, but from a large perspective, I am assuming the energy cost savings would be enormous. My tower/crt costs me at least $25+ per month at home. I could easily lease a lowlevel laptop for that.

    Aj

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  2. snap! been thinking of this for a while by Oo.et.oO · · Score: 4, Interesting

    especially since i use several UPSes which add another layer of inefficiency.

    i want an efficient AC to DC UPS which connects directly to a DC powersupply for my box(en).

    that would rock.

    don't get me started on an entire DC house running off of a fuel cell and/or wind/water generators. woot!

  3. What about Mega Power Supplies by Marillion · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Some large buildings have very large flouresent ballasts in the basement (or where-ever) because they can more effectively provide that power as a large unit rather than hundreds of small units.

    What if the same idea where applied to computers. Right next to the standard wall outlet would be a world standardized jack with six or eight pins for each of the required voltages.

    Low voltage computer mains would make UPS systems less complicated too.

    I've even heard of vendors who make telco friendly rackmount PC's that take 48v DC mains.

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  4. Low Power Boards and DC Power Supplies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://www.mini-box.com

  5. Another lovely beancounter's story... by shepd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reminds me of the one about the Canadian Government buildings being determined to cost $200 a year per sq ft to maintain, so they replaced the CRTs with LCDs because they used less space, and therefore would cost less to maintain.

    *sigh*

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    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  6. Re:Bulbs, man... by Surt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Except those flourescent bulbs put out painfully ugly light. The spectrum is way off and may cause eye damage that could result in much greater long term costs than the electricity.

    White LED lights on the other hand are looking promising.

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    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  7. Not totally unreasonable. by RabidChipmunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's not a totally inane rational.

    Each worker needs a minimum amount of space to get their work done. My two old CRTs took up my entire desk, requiring me to have another desk in order to do any work that required paper. The new LCDs have freed enough space on my desk that I can use it for both purposes. This would allow them to mandate removal of my other desk and reduction in size of my cubbyhole.

    If everyone's space needs can be reduced by a few square feet, we can pack in more people without the current occupants feeling more squished. Alternatively, we can improve the working environment for cramped people without actually investing in new office space.

    Thus if I save 2 square feet at $200 per foot, I can actually justify spending $400 on a new monitor. I can spend more on monitors for workers in space limited work areas.

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  8. Re:$1 billion in energy savings.. by Etyenne · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Do I think that the outcome would have been very similar to the one we have now? Sure.

    This is where you are wrong. Some (I would not dare say "most") interesting innovation do not present an interesting business proposition. Take the Internet; I am not quite sure the telco would have waken one day and say "let's build a cooperative packet network where I will carry your client's traffic for free if you agree to carry mine". If it was not for ARPAnet, we would be using Compuserve and Prodigy today IMHO.

    Just as governement-sponsored research is not systematically good, it's not systematically bad either. Don't throw the baby with the bathwater.

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