1. Stand-by…
The growing acquisition of computer and entertainment equipment increases
energy consumption in unexpected ways. Many of these devices can have a greater impact
on power consumption when they are not in use. Such consumptions are due to the mode
of operation in standby or even to the off-mode.
Stand-by is the term used to designate the consumption of standby power for
various electronic devices such as televisions, microwaves, sound systems, printers,
among others. In this situation the devices are consuming energy, without performing
their function, showing a presence light, as indication of consumption. Off-mode, also
known as phantom consumption, corresponds to the consumption of equipment that is not
performing its function, but has no indication of what they are consuming.
Concerned about these growing consumptions, a group of students from Seia
Secondary School, which under the Erasmus Project are developing the theme
"Sustainable development, decided to carry out a small study on the stand-by mode of the
school community in order to raise awareness of this consumption. As a methodology
used mobile phones and a DECO accountant on the page of this entity on the Internet,
which contains a survey on 15 electronic equipment. Ninety inquiries were made and the
calculation of the annual expenditure (in euros) with the stand-by was done for each one.
The graph shows the results obtained. In it we can see some dispersion of
response. There are relatively small annual expenditures (less than € 30 per year), but
there are also some over € 200, including € 481 per year. The average annual consumption
is about 105 euros.
This value may still be higher, because in the list of the questionnaire used were
not all possible stand-by equipment, because nowadays, any device with digital display,
touchpad or remote control needs to consume some amount of energy when they are in
stand-by mode.
Numberofrespondents
Euros
2. What can we do to lower these consumptions?
Let's have a look at some suggestions.
* Avoid the use of remote controls;
* Unplug the equipment directly from the wall outlet or alternatively we can buy a power
outlet with a power failure and switch off the power switch after use.
* Use socket with cut-off switch.
* Disconnect the monitors whenever we leave the computer.
* Manage your computer's power consumption optimally when not in use by using the
Power Management function on the Control Panel where you can set the computer to
switch off the monitor and put the hard disk in Hibernate mode if it is Unused time.
* Disconnect the printer, photocopier / scanner and power cord from the wall outlet or a
power outlet if they are not in use.
* When purchasing equipment always consult your standby consumption, which will
have a significant weight during use.
Carolina Saraiva
