7RPHDVXUH\RXU3&¶VXVDJHWXUQHYHU\WKLQJR̆SOXJ\RXU3&LQWRWKH.LOO$
Watt, then plug the Kill-A-Watt into the wall. (I actually recommend plugging
your entire surge protector into the Kill-A-Watt—that way, you measure not just
the PC’s energy usage, but the monitor, speakers, and other peripherals as well).
Press the purple “KWh” button on your Kill-A-Watt meter, then turn your PC
back on and use it as you normally would. Check the Kill-A-Watt once a day or
so to make sure it hasn’t lost power and reset to zero. I recommend waiting a
week so it has a good period of usage to work with.
CALCULATING YOUR ELECTRICITY COST
After a week, record the number displayed on your Kill-A-Watt meter, making
VXUHWKHSXUSOHEXWWRQLVSUHVVHGDQG\RX¶UHJHWWLQJWKHULJKW¿JXUH)URPKHUH
it’s just a bit of simple math: multiply that number by the cost of electricity in
your area (if your city uses tiered pricing based on time of day, just use the
DYHUDJHUDWHIRU\RXUFLW\WRJHWDEDOOSDUN¿JXUH 7KHUHVXOWLVKRZPXFK\RXU
computer costs to run for one week.
For my tests, I left my computer on for about 12 hours each weekday—about
eight of which it was in active use, since I work from home, and the other four it
was left idle. Weekends saw only a few hours of use, with me letting the
computer sleep most of the day.
Photo^ credit:^ DAMRONG^ RATTANAPONG/shutterstock.com