I've been a longtime Seti @ Home person and up until just recently have been running older computers: PowerMac G5 (Mac OS X), AMD Athlon 64x2 (Windows), and AMD Athlon 2400+ (Linux).

I recently upgraded my main machine to a Corei7 processor based computer (Mac) and the secondary computer to a Windows based Core2duo system.

I think this meant I went from 90 nanometer technology to 45 nanometer as far as the computers went.

My portable system which was a Core2duo system running Windows remained unchanged (65 nanometer penryn if I'm not mistaken).

At the same time, we replaced our 36 year old central air conditioner and 20+ year old furnace with new energy efficient models.

So the computers and the HVAC gear in the house all went from old types to new energy efficent types.

The power bill went from close to $200 all the way down to $47!

I'm shocked!

And last week our 15 year old clothes washer died so we replaced the washer (and dryer which was old) with new energy efficient types too.

I'm not sure how much more the bill could drop but if any of you are still using old tech it might behoove you to use this "seti down time" to replace the old gear and get some new in and you will be amazed at the power savings.

Just an FYI.

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Your new HVAC/furnace system was 90% of that power savings. But, yes the newer CPUs are much better performance/watt.

I'm pertty sure that the bill is in error. The i7 is by no means an energy efficient device

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

As the previous post indicated I'd bet the furnace/ac was a big part of it.

37 year old AC and 20-some year old furnace was super old technology.

But the computer is part of it.

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I'm pertty sure that the bill is in error. The i7 is by no means an energy efficient device

Im not so sure about that. During this outage I have shut down the old P4, but left the i7 doing Einstein, and the mac doing Milkyway. And my power bill went down $20.bucks. For its meager rac I just might keep it down, And only power it up when the grandkids come over.

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Old James

I've been a longtime Seti @ Home person and up until just recently have been running older computers: PowerMac G5 (Mac OS X), AMD Athlon 64x2 (Windows), and AMD Athlon 2400+ (Linux).

I recently upgraded my main machine to a Corei7 processor based computer (Mac) and the secondary computer to a Windows based Core2duo system.

I think this meant I went from 90 nanometer technology to 45 nanometer as far as the computers went.

My portable system which was a Core2duo system running Windows remained unchanged (65 nanometer penryn if I'm not mistaken).

At the same time, we replaced our 36 year old central air conditioner and 20+ year old furnace with new energy efficient models.

So the computers and the HVAC gear in the house all went from old types to new energy efficent types.

The power bill went from close to $200 all the way down to $47!

I'm shocked!

And last week our 15 year old clothes washer died so we replaced the washer (and dryer which was old) with new energy efficient types too.

I'm not sure how much more the bill could drop but if any of you are still using old tech it might behoove you to use this "seti down time" to replace the old gear and get some new in and you will be amazed at the power savings.

Just an FYI.

I don't know who your power company is, but I got some nice checks from mine when I upgraded to new energy efficient stuff like you did. You might want to check with them.

A while ago we replace an old refrigerator that had leaky seals with a larger side by side with a through the door ice dispenser. Our first winter power bill was cut in half. That is why I looked for many years to find a device like the killawatt and when I found it, I bough it without question.

My room mate also told me about an old air conditioner she saw that was almost shot. It drew so much power that it blew the fuses. The home owner tried to solve the problem by bypassing the fuses and when she saw it, the insulation was melting off the wires.

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I don't know who your power company is, but I got some nice checks from mine when I upgraded to new energy efficient stuff like you did. You might want to check with them.

Absolutely. I just got $600 from my gas company for going tankless on my water heater, and I will get another $1500 on my federal tax return.

Here is a site that lists rebates in the US.
http://www.dsireusa.org/

More detail on the federal tax credits:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

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Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station. - Grand Moff Tarkin

did you get the one with the small accumulator/heater. i hear a lot of people complain of a pulsing of temperature.

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Yeah I am in the process of upgrading my pc's and my satellite transceivers.
So hopefully I will see some difference or at least maybe ET will.

Replacing my older AC with a new one also made a big difference here too and changing to a solar water heater boosted my energy savings. All in all, I am saving about 100+ dollars per month.

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What is this AC you speak of? Some strange reverse heater? :-)

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I currently work in the appliance repair field, and often tell my customers to do the math before replacing older working units. Many of us remember when fridges and stoves lasted for decades, and dishwashers for nearly 20 years. Nowadays, the average appliance lasts between 7-14 years, more often than not less than 10.

Here's an example I give of the math to do when considering replacing an older working fridge to save money on electricty:

A new, average ($1500-2000) unit will, depending on the utility rate, save between $60 and $80 a year in electricity costs, and will last, on average, let's say 10 years. So, you save $6-800 in electricty costs, then have to replace it with another $1500-2000 unit. So, you've spent $3000-4000 on the 2 machines to save $6-800, when an older unit could have lasted the same lifespan. Progress, eh? Not so much.

Not a big fan of Energy Star, seeing what it has done to the designs of appliances over the last 10 or so years, not to mention the R12-R134 changeover. That's not to say the mfg's don't have a hand in it too, there's plenty of blame to go around. I shouldn't complain though, it's pretty good job security for me, as more often than not, what with all the electronics in pretty much everything, which break more often than mechanical types of controls (just try buying any major home appliance today without a control board of some type in it), people fix them, especially the higher end units, because the replacement cost is often 2-3x the repair price. I can't complain :)

Last thing, I've come to the realization that when I finally get the time and money to remodel my kitchen, I am putting in all commercial units, fridge/freezer, grill, griddle, oven, microwave and possibly even dishwasher. The cost will be about the same as higher end consumer versions of the same, for the most part, but will last my lifetime. I plan on staying in my house till they carry me out, either in a box or out to the old folks home, so I'm not really concerned about resale or what anyone else thinks about how it's set up. I like to cook, and plan on setting it up to do it well.

How often do you hear of restaurants not opening because of issues with their appliances? How much electronics do they have in them? For the most part, very little, and very robust. Downtime is a killer, and isn't acceptable in that field. Just my .02

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Al's got a good point. We looked at that too. The kitchen stuff will be done later but commercial quality stuff is typically built to last.

The furnace and ac were better than we probably should have gotten but we're
thinking of two things: longevity and the fact that newer stuff tends to have
better resale value in the home.

That 37 year old AC unit actually had a replacement motor in it that was the
very last motor that they were able to find in the only warehouse left for that old stuff a few years back and there were no more replacements. It was on its last legs anyway.

The other thought, when we replaced our washer and dryer (which conveniently died over black friday weekend) we ended up getting a pair that was commercial quality that we normally wouldn't have been able to afford but due to black friday pricing became possible to get.

I normally see stuff like computers and software less pricey on black friday but
didn't realize those prices extends to big ticket home items too so look around.

This isn't really a Seti or Boinc thing but I factor things like "total power consumption" not just "I have eight PCs and they draw this at full load...."

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The other thought, when we replaced our washer and dryer (which conveniently died over black friday weekend) we ended up getting a pair that was commercial quality that we normally wouldn't have been able to afford but due to black friday pricing became possible to get.

This isn't really a Seti or Boinc thing but I factor things like "total power consumption" not just "I have eight PCs and they draw this at full load...."

PM me about your new laundry if they are front loaders, I'll give you some good advice how to avoid some common issues, especailly if you're moving from a top to front loader.

As to power, I have 8 9450 quad systems (sadly only one PCI-E slot per board, Intel brand so no OC possible, though should be very stable) ready to fire up this winter each with a GTX260 SC-216 card in each, at the time it was the best $/perf/watt I could justify in those systems. Fermi wasn't out yet, and these were a pretty good deal.

Not sure what would be the current Fermi version of this card, if there even is one, that would be about the same power useage, though the RAC would hopefully be much higher. I think phud had some systems that were a similiar setup to mine, but he's now downsizing. Hopefully someone might know, as I am not too up on the 200/fermi comparibles.

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I think the 460 would be fairly close, but with more upside when the new apps are eventually created.

We can also run more than 1 WU on the fermi cards at a time.

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Took a quick look at Neweggs site, did a compare on a couple cards. Wondering which would be better for SETI? They are

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 01G-P3-1373-AR
Core Clock 763MHz
Shader Clock 1526MHz
Stream Processors 336 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock 3800MHz
Price after rebate $179

vs

EVGA GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) Superclocked 01G-P3-1467-AR
Core Clock 625MHz
Shader Clock 1250MHz
Stream Processors 352 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock 3240MHz
Price after rebate $169

So my questions are, 460 has higher clock rates but fewer proc cores, and 465 has lower clock rates and more proc cores. Knowing how SETI operates, which would provide the highest level of performance, seeing there is only a $10 difference? Also, I would think the 460 would consume more power because of the higher clocks, but not sure of that one. All things being equal, I'm all for lower power consumption with similiar performance.

Then of course there is the 560s coming out early next year, wonder what their specs and performance will be compared to these cards, as well as what their price point would be?

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The 465 is GF100 and compute capable of 2.0, the 460 is the next generation up at GF104 and computer capable of 2.1.

The 460 also stays cooler.

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The 465 is GF100 and compute capable of 2.0, the 460 is the next generation up at G104 and computer capable of 2.1.

The 460 also stays cooler.

Huh, you'd think based upon the numbering scheme, the 465 would be newer/better than the 460. It pays to ask questions, I've found. Thanks for the info!

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Remember that they started with the 480 and 470, then they added the 465 from parts that did not quite come up to snuff for the bigger boys.

Here is link to some comparisons.
http://thepcreport.net/2010/07/nvidias-geforce-gtx-460-is-the-mid-range-winner/

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