Another study from fifteen years ago found similar results; laptops requiring 19W when active, 3W in low power mode; yet that study concluded that desktop computers used 70W when active, 9W in low power.
These days a gaming laptop draws more power than a standard laptop, due to speedier and more demanding processing and graphics. Either way, for the most part, laptops are more efficient than desktops. Tablets more efficient than laptops. Phones more efficient that tablets.
Many of the Internet of Things devices enable users to turn connected devices on or off remotely. Heat or air conditioning are the obvious first ideas. Smart sensors can be used to automatically react, or to alert a user or machine for response. A sponsor could detect the movement or gestures of a person who has fallen asleep, and would then automatically turn off the TV after a period of time. Heart and glucose monitors could send updates to health care monitoring services which would be programmed to transmit alerts in the event of numbers or events of concern. Any variety of health monitors fit this example.
Imagine in the not-too-distant future, via IoT technology and software, your home –or maybe your second or vacation home-- being in touch, via the cloud, with the smart energy (electrical) grid. Your home system software, or simply the generated data, could inform the power utility company that there has been no activity in the home for a while. The water heater there can be turned off remotely, by the power company via the smart grid and your interactive IoT software, and you wouldn’t know it. The energy savings would occur on your behalf.
These are energy saving activities, as well as beneficial economically.
This just scratches the surface. Computers have gone from massive and gigantic, to hand held devices with more processing power than those behemoths of the 1940s and 50s. Power grid consumption gets more efficient as the machinery slims down. The digital future will be even more adroit, more rewarding.
Dean Landsman is a NYC-based Digital Strategist who writes a monthly column for PR for People “The Connector.”