Reducing PC energy consumption

Reverse engineering an off the shelf home electricity monitor to log data to a Raspberry Pi, replacing PCs with lower power devices and using software to monitor computers left on when not needed.

Transcript

1. Reducing PC Energy Consumption
   James Singleton
   Shutdown Scanner
   shutdownscanner.com
   unop.co.uk
   

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2. Introduction
   ●
   How to reduce computer energy consumption
   ●
   Replace with low power devices
   – Good for always on machines
   ●
   Use them less
   – How to measure waste
   ●
   Projects
   – Electricity monitor hacking
   – Digital signs and display screens
   – Computer power monitoring
   

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3. Electricity Monitor Hacking
   ●
   £13 from Maplin
   ●
   Download data feature
   ●
   www.maplin.co.uk/wireless-electricity-monitor-611581
   

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4. Reviews
   ●
   “This is the worse item I have ever bought from
   maplin, on the box it seems high speck but in
   reality it a compliant waste of time, have spent
   over a HOUR working out how to change the
   default settings if you unplug the unit from the
   computer All your usage data is lost, and there
   is no way of stopping the display from
   constantly scrolling.”
   – gary
   

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7. Looks like this...
   ●
   Windows only (and not very good)
   ●
   PC power consumption negates benefit
   

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8. And this...
   

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9. And this...
   

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10. And this...
    

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11. And sometimes like this...
    

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12. That makes socket sad
    

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13. Options
    ●
    Better hardware
    – Current Cost
    – CurrentCostHacking.com
    ●
    Give up
    – Not likely
    ●
    Hack it until it works
    – Reimplement on a Raspberry Pi
    – Running Linux (standard Raspbian distro)
    – Code in Python, HTML5 and JavaScript
    

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14. Linux
    ●
    Windows requires a driver install
    ●
    And it's buggy (causes BSOD)
    ●
    USB serial driver included on Raspbian
    ●
    Just plug it in
    ●
    And you can talk to the device
    

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15. That makes socket smile
    

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20. More Info
    ●
    unop.co.uk
    – Talk video
    ●
    Reverse engineering technical details
    – Blog post
    ●
    Code on GitHub
    – github.com/jpsingleton
    

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21. Digital Signs
    ●
    Originally PCs with very long VGA cables
    – Lots of noise and poor quality image
    – Browser toolbars/login prompts etc.
    – High power consumption (always on)
    ●
    Raspberry Pi is much better
    – Better quality signal (local digital connection)
    – Much lower power consumption
    – Some issues found and fixed
    – ShutdownScanner.com/Blog
    

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22. Computer Power Monitoring
    ●
    How many of you know if your staff are leaving their
    computers on overnight and at weekends?
    – How many?
    – How much does it cost?
    ●
    Shutdown Scanner
    – Service to automatically measure how much power/money
    is wasted by inactive computers left on overnight or at
    weekends
    – ShutdownScanner.com
    – Lots of lovely graphs
    – Shows you the waste
    

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29. Status
    ●
    Currently in beta testing stage
    ●
    Launching full service soon
    – Possibly re-design look and feel
    – Core technology works well
    ●
    Interested in trying it out?
    – Got an office?
    – Bills too high?
    – Get in touch
    – Take a card
    

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30. Thanks
    Looking for help with...
    ●
    Branding & copy writing;
    ●
    Marketing; and
    ●
    Promotion
    Get in touch
    Tweet @shutdownscanner
    Email admin@shutdownscanner.com
    

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