Believe me, the impact of about 480 volts with almost unlimited amperage from the pole transformer will wake you up mighty quick, if it does not kill you...

I still remember the sound of the 'braaaaackkkkk' resounding throughout the neighborhood....and it was a very deep sound......not just a crackle...

And picked myself up off of the ground with shiny sparkles of copper all over my face shield.......

And yes that sounds shocking "braaaaackkkkk" whoa, that's not a sound one wants to even imagine let alone hear. Joker exits in insulated boots any which way He can. wow!

Voltage has no conscience........believe me.........kerzapppppppppppppppp....

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Another deal with power factor is the effect on overall power system stability. Does or does not the utility need to add kvar (capacitance) to their system to compensate for the instability contributed by your load. But we individuals are not usually asked to worry much about that.

Actually, it depends on whether the load is inductive (a motor or transformer) or capacitive. I think most PC power supplies start with a rectifier and a big cap, so they're capacitive.

... but as you say, for home users they don't bother.

A large factory with many electric motors may get hit with extra charges for being too inductive.

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Makes your blood boil, doesn't it? Whilst we are all under pressure from rising bills, British Gas announce record profits - on the back of a 15% rise in prices last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7256096.stm

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Makes your blood boil, doesn't it? Whilst we are all under pressure from rising bills, British Gas announce record profits - on the back of a 15% rise in prices last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7256096.stm

We have the same problem here in the States. Natural gas to heat homes and automobile gas (I believe you guys call that "petrol") have all been on high increases (I currently paid $3.19/gallon on my last fill-up) while the major gas companies are posting record profits and bonuses.

Of course we can always do things more efficiently, like buy hybrid cars (if you are in the market for a new vehicle) or car pool with co-workers, or cut down on daily travel - but there's something screwy when prices rise exponentially and so do profits. IMO it's not right.

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Makes your blood boil, doesn't it? Whilst we are all under pressure from rising bills, British Gas announce record profits - on the back of a 15% rise in prices last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7256096.stm

We have the same problem here in the States. Natural gas to heat homes and automobile gas (I believe you guys call that "petrol") have all been on high increases (I currently paid $3.19/gallon on my last fill-up) while the major gas companies are posting record profits and bonuses.

Of course we can always do things more efficiently, like buy hybrid cars (if you are in the market for a new vehicle) or car pool with co-workers, or cut down on daily travel - but there's something screwy when prices rise exponentially and so do profits. IMO it's not right.

:D Don't get me started on Petrol (gas!) prices :D When I was there last year I was pleasantly surprised how cheap fuel was ;) Our petrol here is now somewhere between $9 & $10 a gallon depending where you end up buying it. We are fortunate to have smaller cars and more efficient engines though. No way you could run a US monster truck at our prices any more!

I am back in June for a Summer vacation and have booked myself a gas guzzler to drive around in, but know it will still work out so much cheaper than driving at home.

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Just got a letter in the post stating that my energy costs are rising yet again. Up another 5% from 8th February on both Gas & Electric :(

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. . . they're just too bloody greedy eh ;)

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Yep :(

MY SETI consumption is over 1KWH now, so a 5% increase is only another 15pence per day ($0.30) so it's not going to break the bank, but it's money I'd rather not pay the fat cat share holders all the same.

(For those outside of the UK, the Government stupidly privatised our utility companies some years ago and now they are all about making profit, not providing an essential service).

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(For those outside of the UK, the Government stupidly privatised our utility companies some years ago and now they are all about making profit, not providing an essential service).

Dont say that. The NSW government is trying to sell off the state electricity generators now (I work at one!!!!) and have repeatedly stated that it will force prices down!

Yeah right, not even my kids would fall for that lie.

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(For those outside of the UK, the Government stupidly privatised our utility companies some years ago and now they are all about making profit, not providing an essential service).

Dont say that. The NSW government is trying to sell off the state electricity generators now (I work at one!!!!) and have repeatedly stated that it will force prices down!

Yeah right, not even my kids would fall for that lie.

LOL. Our most recent example is British Gas announcing record profits - yet the bills rose around 15% last year (75% since 2003). Dividends to Shareholders increased to 17%. Speaks volumes doesn't it?

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Yep :(

MY SETI consumption is over 1KWH now, so a 5% increase is only another 15pence per day ($0.30) so it's not going to break the bank, but it's money I'd rather not pay the fat cat share holders all the same.

(For those outside of the UK, the Government stupidly privatised our utility companies some years ago and now they are all about making profit, not providing an essential service).

I've capped my computer load at 1KW. With my energy provider (Electric Company) currently charging $.0903/KWH, monthly crunching estimate is $66 with or 66% of my total consumption. Costs can vary from month-to-month with changes in raw fuel costs. I chose not to "lock-in" a fixed rate which was slightly more during off peak months, when A/C use is at a minimum.

Here in Texas, electricity can be a cutthroat business with offers coming in the mail weekly to switch energy providers. Some companys are publicly traded, some have recently been taked private by venture capitalists. Competition tends to keep them rather honest IMO. Where I live, I have choice of ~8 different providers. No change in lines or meters, owners/operators of actual equipment remains the same regardless of your choice in provider. Fees for equipment/services (~$6/Month), are included your monthly consolidated bill from your provider..

@Andy - Thanks for starting this thread

I've just purchased the "Kill-a-Watt" meter mentioned earlier in the thread, and able to monitor my computer load and see the fluxuations as I'm tweaking boxes. Recent Intel Quad box draws 170W when crunching away, about the same as my 3.2 GHz Prescott box, but is RAC is nearly 600% of Mr Prescott, and generates less heat. Here in Houston, Texas, less heat is a very good thing :-)

The P4 Prescott is now destined to become my daughters "new" computer, making room in the energy budget for another Q6600 build. She turns 21 years come June, and is thrilled to be getting Daddys old computer.

Cheers,
John

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Yep :(

MY SETI consumption is over 1KWH now, so a 5% increase is only another 15pence per day ($0.30) so it's not going to break the bank, but it's money I'd rather not pay the fat cat share holders all the same.

(For those outside of the UK, the Government stupidly privatised our utility companies some years ago and now they are all about making profit, not providing an essential service).

I've capped my computer load at 1KW. With my energy provider (Electric Company) currently charging $.0903/KWH, monthly crunching estimate is $66 with or 66% of my total consumption. Costs can vary from month-to-month with changes in raw fuel costs. I chose not to "lock-in" a fixed rate which was slightly more during off peak months, when A/C use is at a minimum.

Here in Texas, electricity can be a cutthroat business with offers coming in the mail weekly to switch energy providers. Some companys are publicly traded, some have recently been taked private by venture capitalists. Competition tends to keep them rather honest IMO. Where I live, I have choice of ~8 different providers. No change in lines or meters, owners/operators of actual equipment remains the same regardless of your choice in provider. Fees for equipment/services (~$6/Month), are included your monthly consolidated bill from your provider..

@Andy - Thanks for starting this thread

I've just purchased the "Kill-a-Watt" meter mentioned earlier in the thread, and able to monitor my computer load and see the fluxuations as I'm tweaking boxes. Recent Intel Quad box draws 170W when crunching away, about the same as my 3.2 GHz Prescott box, but is RAC is nearly 600% of Mr Prescott, and generates less heat. Here in Houston, Texas, less heat is a very good thing :-)

The P4 Prescott is now destined to become my daughters "new" computer, making room in the energy budget for another Q6600 build. She turns 21 years come June, and is thrilled to be getting Daddys old computer.

Cheers,
John

That's all good to know John. Thanks. Your electricity is MUCH cheaper than ours (~ half the price). I should also set myself a limit on power consumption. I think once I get my first quad running I will turn off other boxes. I have made the mistake of setting up a load of PIV 2.8 - 3.2Gig machines at the moment, but only because I got them either free or very cheap - but the power they are using and the heat they are kicking out is nuts! It would pay me, long term, to build some Quads and lose the PIVs over time - your figures are proof enough of that.

Thanks for your post and the info.

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Your electricity is MUCH cheaper than ours (~ half the price).

Where I live, it pays to shop around, the provider that I terminated service on 12 Jan was charging 50% more than my new provider ($0.0903 vs. $0.144) same electricity, it all feeds the same grid, just much cheaper.

You can also spend more if you want to feed the "green" thing by choosing a provider that only generates with renewable resources (hydro, solar, wind, etc).

Live Long and BOINC

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Your electricity is MUCH cheaper than ours (~ half the price).

Where I live, it pays to shop around, the provider that I terminated service on 12 Jan was charging 50% more than my new provider ($0.0903 vs. $0.144) same electricity, it all feeds the same grid, just much cheaper.

You can also spend more if you want to feed the "green" thing by choosing a provider that only generates with renewable resources (hydro, solar, wind, etc).

Live Long and BOINC

My last bill for Juice was for 949KWH @ $120.86, I'm looking at replacing the TEC-Heatsinks that I have with Tuniq Tower 120 heatsinks on all 3 Quad PCs(As I can't maintain a high overclock without turning on the swamp cooler or having the windows open or just have sub 60F day or night withe TEC-Heatsinks), first on the list in the conversion 3 High speed 120x25mm fans, Then the Heatsinks which right now would cost Me $148.89[49.63ea] and this will be in July as that is the way My budget goes.

April08 49. 1-Comb[Barstow Barber Shop] 11.01
April 48. 3-120MM 110cfm case fans $49.75
April 47. 2-Swamp Cooler Pad sets, 50' Black Hose 35.49(April $96.25 max)
May 46. Turtle Wax car wash mitt 11.49
May 45. 4-Duracell AA Batteries 3.00
May 44. >Money owed to Bob<------ 30.00(For Gasoline in February)
May 43. Transfer NV MH Title to CA HCD Manufactured House Title+PMO 4.00? 74.42(May $122.91 max)
June 42. 12-6XL Mens Briefs 49.87(It's the way they come packaged)
June 41. 1200XL motherboard(Less plug in ICs) & a 50w 17964 ps brick $50.00(June $99.87 max)
July+ 40. Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie - The Conqueror of Shamballa 14.99+3.98=18.96
July+ 39. SUPREME COMMANDER + FORGED ALLIANCE PC GAME 40.00[Best Offer $21.01+18.99 shipping]
July+ 38. 3-Tuniq Towers 120 148.89[49.63ea]
July+ 37. 19V Power AC Adapter LCD Monitor Microtek 815C Series 37.99(July $245.84-105.77(max)=140.07 Birthday?)
(AC Adapter may not be needed, Problems with the monitor at HiRes[1280x1024] may be cpu related, Maybe)

Mostly this is an estimated list, As It depends on How much extra income I'll still have after paying the bills(Elec, NatGas, Phone/DSL & TV), Space rent&WaterPumping($215+10), Gas for the Mustang($30), Car Insurance($16.83) and buying Food for Me and Angel(She's 16 years old now, $155-$165). The only other thing I have to worry about is the War I'm waging against the local sparrows in which I won a battle recently(I denied them Nesting privileges), But they still land and and roost sometimes(Like small Pigeons), As summer comes and the metal heats up they'll leave for the trees thankfully. My little win while not exactly original was FREE and environmentally good as in the CDs aren't in a landfill as the CDs were old Magazine and/or DOS CDs for the most part(even a couple of really bad games too), Oh and I used 29 CDs and some Walter GOO adhesive to stick them up there with and they're up there for good now.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

When I first saw those pictures of your anti-nesting solution, I couldn't help myself but to think along cruel lines...

"He should have used those clear blanks that cap the 50 or 100 spindles of DVDR's. Teach them sparrows a thing or two after running full tilt into those a few times!"

And $30 for gas a month? You must push that Stang around more than you drive it. I wish I could get by so cheaply in the car expense realm...

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When I first saw those pictures of your anti-nesting solution, I couldn't help myself but to think along cruel lines...

"He should have used those clear blanks that cap the 50 or 100 spindles of DVDR's. Teach them sparrows a thing or two after running full tilt into those a few times!"

And $30 for gas a month? You must push that Stang around more than you drive it. I wish I could get by so cheaply in the car expense realm...

It's not that I didn't have a few blanks around, Just no cheap stuff and the clear stuff You mention I don't have more than a couple of those, So I used stuff that I had that I can't use anymore as It was just taking up space, Now the sparrows have something to read. ;) On the Gas, I'm permanently disabled(I receive SSI), So outside of going to the market in Barstow(24 miles round trip) and to the Post Office to get My mail(9 miles round trip each time twice a week, Mail is not delivered anywhere in Yermo), I don't drive much so $30 is all I need and I enjoy the 1000w Shaker stereo in the Car, At least It's not an SUV, As I get anywhere from 18 to as much as 22mpg(Cruise Control helps a lot on the freeway). Only around July, November and December do I spend more money on Gas and then It's only about $11 more per month so that I can go visit the relatives in Relatively Nearby Victorville(90 miles round trip).


This is My Car, It's a 2006 Mustang GT and yep It's loaded(Totally paid for too) and I get more than a few compliments on It from time to time(With one trashy woman being the exception as She didn't like where I live as She dissed Me, She had to have followed Me one day or just seen My car parked next to the house, Where I live is picky about who is let in to live here, We have no crime here and no drug dealers or other criminal miscreants, So Her snide remark proved She isn't worthy, Just prejudiced, a snob as they used to say at one time I think). The car wasn't My 1st choice, 1st was I think a blue one(Windveil Blue), But It was going in an Ad for a different dealer, The 2nd one was a Silver one(Satin Silver), But It had a problem with the Dash and wouldn't come up as either having a satin or a charcoal dash insert while on Fords website and no wonder It was damaged somehow I was told, No idea really as I don't know anymore than that about It. So I got the Green one(Legend Lime) as It was the 3rd choice, It's largely stock still, But It does have Sequential taillights like the old Mercury Cougar did back in the 60's did, Also I installed a 3M mask to deflect and protect the hood and front bumper from small objects, Also to supplement the built in passive alarm system is LoJack and that's It. The photo was taken from My Manufactured House, It's not a rental, I own It too and therefore I'm a resident(It has a foundation system and is permitted by the County of San Bernardino CA), Not a Tenant, I do pay a space rental which really acts like an HOA fee as this place is fairly secure and anyone that comes and goes is on camera 24/7, So If You came Here I'd say smile you're on Camera. Besides You know what they say, Location, Location, Location(It's nice to be freeway close too). Oh and so far the Mustang has less than 7000 on the odometer still and is still shod with the original tires which It turns out aren't warranted by either FORD or by the tire manufacturer according to the local BFGoodrich dealer, Next tires I get will be from Walmart I think and yeah there's one in Barstow too, Not like I go there much, mainly Stater Brothers Super Market over on Armory Rd(At Barstow Rd near the Chevron they have a retired M60 MBT(Main Battle Tank) on display(It needs a new paint job I think)).

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Joker, your entire life history is now in this thread ;) Not that I haven't enjoyed the read, because I have - and I love your car too. So one thing got me thinking...With an RAC of 9,000 you must be practically heating that home of yours by means of SETI ;)

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<edit> As far as cost goes, for most locations here in the US electric rates are still relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world. I haven't made a ballpark estimate for my gear in while, but it's probably something like 20 dollars a month, but they'd be on anyway so I don't worry about it.

Alinator[/quote

I run Seti on a Linux server that would be on all the time whether Seti was running or not so my true cost to crunch numbers in watts is the difference in power consumption between when Seti is running and when it it isn't. When the server is doing it's normal thing, it is pretty much idling and it draws 141 watts, but when Seti is running, the CPU load is almost at full capacity and it is drawing a consistent 178 watts. The difference is 37 watts which to my way of thinking is my rate of energy consumption for crunching. At my current rate for electricity of .145/kwh that works out to $46.99 a year. I figure I can afford that to help the cause.

<edit> As far as cost goes, for most locations here in the US electric rates are still relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world. I haven't made a ballpark estimate for my gear in while, but it's probably something like 20 dollars a month, but they'd be on anyway so I don't worry about it.

Alinator[/quote

I run Seti on a Linux server that would be on all the time whether Seti was running or not so my true cost to crunch numbers in watts is the difference in power consumption between when Seti is running and when it it isn't. When the server is doing it's normal thing, it is pretty much idling and it draws 141 watts, but when Seti is running, the CPU load is almost at full capacity and it is drawing a consistent 178 watts. The difference is 37 watts which to my way of thinking is my rate of energy consumption for crunching. At my current rate for electricity of .145/kwh that works out to $46.99 a year. I figure I can afford that to help the cause.

I look at my bill as a whole (have not yet broken out the computers)...for my house as a whole is ~$100-$120 US (currently 6 systems running full time 5 running BOINC apps). This includes heat and A/C which are primarily electric systems.

-citroja

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Joker, your entire life history is now in this thread ;) Not that I haven't enjoyed the read, because I have - and I love your car too. So one thing got me thinking...With an RAC of 9,000 you must be practically heating that home of yours by means of SETI ;)

All 3 do pretty well(Sometimes a bit much, Then It's open a window or two in the winter time), They'll do better after a round of New heatsinks and a more ironclad overclock. Well not quite, Just the more recent stuff and not every juicy or not so juicy detail, But then sometimes I type and type(ad infinitum). Right now electricity is only about $121, If and when I get the new heatsinks the bill should at least not climb too much higher in the summer. The fans I'm going to take off since I have several 150cfm fans just waiting for a heatsink and It means biting the bullet on heatsinks and cases too, Coolermaster Cosmos is plenty wide and at one place It's even less than the 830 or the new 832 for that matter, But I'm not impressed by It's wimpy air filters, Their so thin they may as well not be there, I'd have to clean them almost every two days.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's