Spending money to save costs is one of life`s little conundrums that seems to occur with frustrating regularity because it is not always easy to see if the supposed value proposition is genuine or not.
This is particularly true when there is an emotive component involved, as there usually is, when it comes to shopping at sales or other impulse buying.
A new British study presents such a value proposition conundrum. Buying new desktop technology will save money, concludes a study by Britain`s PC Pro magazine. What a wonderful excuse to spend money, replace all your desktop equipment, and claim it as a cost saving!
Facts are facts, and the fact under consideration is that newer technology consumes less power. For example, older televisions can use 13W of power in standby mode, but newer ones use less than 1W while on standby.
The study measured the electricity consumed by PCs, printers and TVs, and found that many devices were "extremely hungry when it comes to eating power". In other words, the technology sitting on your desk could be much more of a power threat than you realise.
The technology sitting on your desk could be much more of a power threat than you realise.
Warwick Ashford, Technology Editor, ITWeb
According to the study, a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor left on during the day and in standby mode during the night costs an equivalent in electricity over five years as a brand new flat-screen monitor. More evidence that switching to shiny new technology will save money.
It is interesting to note that although power consumption drops by around 130W from operating mode to standby mode, putting something on standby is not the same as switching it off when it comes to saving money.
The study also points out that if the screensaver is running, power consumption could be as high as 100W, which is far above standby mode. Now this may not sound like a big deal, but small costs per monitor could easily add up to a substantial sum when multiplied by the number of monitors in an office building. Another excellent reason to upgrade.
Practically, the study says significant savings could be achieved by enabling standard power-saving options on PC operating systems and making sure staff switch off their monitors when they go home. Personally, I prefer the idea of getting new equipment.
Everyone knows most people are careless when it comes to company money and why pay someone extra to go around checking monitors are shut down as recommended by the study, when a simple upgrade would do the trick?
Following the study, a Switch IT Off campaign has been started to highlight the issue of wasted electricity and make users aware of the true cost of owning electronics. I think it`s time my managers heard about this study and its findings that a small to medium-sized company should easily cut lb5 000 off its bills by saving electricity.
OK, if I am forced to get real about the situation, it would take a lot longer than five years to demonstrate a return on investment on a new flat-screen monitor using local electricity rates to do the calculation, but why let facts get in the way?
Excuse me while I go off to write the requisition order for my new flat-screen monitor. Naturally, I have my company`s best interests at heart. Just think of the money it will save in the long, long run.
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