Thus, cutting down on energy waste, cutting down on your energy bills and cutting down the pangs you might have for spoiling the environment.

Are you one of those who should use SetPower?

• You use computers throughout the day.
• You use Windows’ own power feature but you want more fine-tuned control over it.
• You want your computer to be instantly ready for action when you want it to.
• You forget to shut off the computer after the day’s work.

If you have any of these attributes or all of them, then the SetPower computer power management application is worth a try. SetPower returns control to the user who missed having a time bound power management feature bundled with Windows. SetPower enhances the capabilities of the in-built Power management settings by letting the user set it by the clock.

Starting with the installation, let’s take a look at how it does its bit for the environment.

Setup starts with an installer which downloads the full installation. SetPower installs as a Control Panel applet and occupies a minuscule 435KB of space.

• Energy saving starts with adding Power Plan Schedules.

• Scheduled power plans can be set up for specific times of the day and specific days of the week. SetPower monitors the power source – direct or battery and manages the response accordingly. SetPower  uses the Task Scheduler to trigger the timers behind the power saving operations.

• Computer power management can be according to three schemes or modes – Balanced, Power Saver and High Performance. SetPower can be set to turn the display off, go to sleep mode, and hibernate by time of day and day of week for any of the three modes.

• SetPower also provides an easily configurable way using two typical wizards. The wizards are simple one step solutions to set power plans based on the active and inactive times of computer usage. For instance, a high performance power plan is a fit for peak working hours while the sleep mode can kick in when the computer is left idle.

• Using the first wizard, a user needs to set times for his active usage and another for an inactive time like late at night.

Using the second wizard, a user can set the power schedules around his daily activity as shown in the screenshot.

The set power plans does not stop the user from using his computer the normal way against the preset schedules. The power plans also can be modified by double clicking and changing the times.

Applying SetPower to save

To save on energy costs first and the environment second seems like a good idea. The developers claim that SetPower can help save $10/month or $120/year by changing how you use your computer during the day and night. That’s an attractive thought for a person who doesn’t use the Shut Down button too much.

As a small freeware (only for personal use), SetPower has lots going for it. An easily configurable interface with simple time based settings. SetPower also works along with the in-built computer power management feature in Windows. Both AC and battery supply are covered in the scheme of things.

So for simplicity’s sake and for drip by drip power savings, SetPower is set and on.

Some essential requirements for SetPower are:

• NET Framework 2.0
• ACPI Compliant Hardware (Standby or Sleep should be an option in the Windows shutdown dialog)

SetPower is free for personal use and is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Image Credit: orocain

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The application is called Edison. Edison allows you to conserve energy by modifying the powers settings of your computer. A nice little app you can download and install free from here. Edison requires .NET framework 2.0 so if you don’t already have it make sure you download the 27MB file. Once installed you are required to register for a free account on developer’s website which I found a bit annoying.

Edison basically manages Windows power settings and allow you to apply different power settings depending upon your needs. However its a bit more than just powers settings. Edison allows you to define the timings during which you generally use your computer then you can have two different sets of power settings for “work time” and “non-work time”. This would allow you to get more aggressive with saving power. If on the other hand you can completely switch off your computer during the “non-work time” then, well nothing like it!

To customize the schedule just hop over to the “Schedule” Tab and enter in the required details to define the work time. As for the actual power savings you can simply move the slider to adjust the power settings. As you move the slider you can see the settings change below the slider. If you are looking for something else you can click on custom button and then key in your values.

Edison also displays your savings by using the current settings. You can customize the rate it uses to calculate the savings by clicking on the underlined rate per kwh and enter your custom rate to display the savings according to the rate in your area.

Overall Edison is a nice little app that gives you greater control over power management and thus would allow you to save some energy and go green. Do you know of some similar apps? How do you do your bit to save energy?

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Here are 5 ways you can help to decrease power consumption on your computer.

1. Tweak Google to Save Power

Blackle was created to provide a front end to Google, but with a black background.  Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black.  A given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen, so you get all the goodness of Google and with all the additional environmental benefits.

Yes, the difference a single computer makes is small, put together, this small tweak to Google has a potential to save 750 Megawatt hours a year.  As of now, they’ve already saved more than a million watt hours with this tool!

The whole concept of Blackle is slightly controversial though and it has its detractors.  This Wall Street Journal article claims that only older CRT monitors will see any benefit from the site.

2. Optimize Windows and Track How Much CO₂ You’ve Saved

CO2 Saver is a free toolbar released by Snap and is a lightweight application that runs in Windows. It adjusts your Windows power settings so that your computer, monitor and hard drive consumes less electricity when you’re not actively using them (similar to what you could do by adjusting your power options in Windows).

It then calculates how much power is saved, and converts it into pounds of CO₂ emissions prevented by having the toolbar installed.  You can see the amount of CO₂ saved by yourself and all toolbar users together so you can view the collective effort and what you have contributed to it.

At the time of writing, users of this tool have collectively saved more than 850,000 lbs of CO₂!

3. Use Energy Efficient Products

Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products.  When you buy electronics, look for the logo (pictured above) or ask for similarly certified products.  This ensures that you’ll get something which is pretty much efficient in its class.

4. Use LCD monitors rather than CRT

Some sources quote CRT monitors as consuming 250% more power than LCD screens of similar size.  So if you’re looking to cut down on the power bill, consider dumping that old monitor and moving on to a less power hungry LCD which incidentally would also be much sexier looking on the table, and deliver crisper sharper images than a CRT.

5. Adjust Your Computer Settings

Whether you’re using a Mac OSX or Windows, you can adjust your settings accordingly so your system can power down when you’re idle.  On Windows, go to Control Panel then power options to fine tune when you want your computer to turn down the hard disk, monitor, or go into standby mode.

On a Mac, go to System Preferences, then Energy Saver pane, and then Sleep to adjust your energy saving settings.

So there you have it, five simple ways you can help save power on your computer. What methods do you use? I’m curious to know. Tell us in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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For a start I have to partly destroy a myth. You have probably heard about the search engine Blackle which claims to save energy due to dark screens requiring less energy than light screens. In fact, this is only true for CRT monitors. On LCD monitors a mainly black screen may actually consume more energy than a predominantly white screen [Source]. Although the difference is marginal and also depends on your individual monitor, what remains is the spirit: every little bit, no matter how tiny, will help to make a difference – and this is where you come in.

Understand the ecological footprint

A global footprint of 1 means that it takes the Earth one year to regenerate what we use in one year. So this is the maximum footprint our planet can handle in the long run. Currently, humanity as a whole has a footprint of 1.3 and that global footprint will reach 2 by the 2030’s. That means our ecosystem will soon begin to collapse entirely. That’s unless we do something about it.

You can learn more about the ecological footprint on Global Footprint Network. There is also a personal footprint quiz available for people from the USA and Australia.

Calculate your footprint

The calculation will give you an idea of how much you and people with a similar footprint will have to improve in order to take up less space and let the rest of the world fit in.

There are many different types of footprint calculators. Most will calculate your carbon footprint. The more details they ask of you, the better you’ll be able to realize where you can possibly save. On the other hand, you may not be able to give all the details. However, more important than to calculate the exact footprint is to understand where you can decrease your footprint.

The best and most comprehensive calculator I found was the Ecological Footprint Quiz from MyFootprint. Most calculators are only available for single countries. This one however is available for all countries on this planet. Below you see an exemplary result.

Take action

Now that you have an idea of how lavish your lifestyle really is, it’s time to do something about it. You can achieve a lot with small changes that don’t even hurt (much). It does take some thought and possibly some extra time, but the quality of your life will increase rather than decrease. The really good news is, it may save you money quickly and it may save your life or the lives of our children in the not so distant future.

Cut Your Footprint has a list of the Top 10 Ways to Cut Your Carbon Footprint , which is a great way to get started if you have no idea at all.

Here’s the short version:

1. Use energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs
2. Measure your Footprint – hopefully you already did.
3. Avoid plastic grocery bags.
4. Use a programmable thermostat to heat your home.
5. Recycle!
6. Properly Inflate your tires.
7. Run only full loads of washing for clothes and dishes.
8. Air seal and insulate your home.
9. Air dry your washing.
10. Use a water saving shower head.

A much more detailed list can be found in the wikiHow article How to Save the Environment at Home. Follow the links at the bottom for many more great articles.

Finally the longest list of realistic items and the one I most highly recommend everyone to go through is from Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life: 100 Ways to Save The Environment.

Spread the word

If you’re so inclined and really want to make a difference, get your friends involved and help them get started. This is not just a fashion, it really matters.

What do you do to preserve the environment and what are you never going to do?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 5 Ways To Reduce The Power Consumption Of Your Computer (16)
• Save Energy and Go Green on Windows using Edison (6)
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