Turn off your num-lock when not in use

And save the environment

[vincevincevince]

Rough (and possibly wrong, estimated) calculation:

^{Approximately 1300lb carbon emissions produced per MWH electricity used
LED indicator consumes approx 5mA at 2.5V = 0.0125 W/s = 45 W/h
8x5x50 (8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year) = 2000 hours
2000h x 24W/h = 0.048 MWh
0.048 MWh x 1300lb = 62.4 lb emissions}

Turn off your num-lock when you are not using the numeric keyboard and save in excess of 60 pounds carbon emissions each year. For every 30 WebmasterWorld members who take part, we save a ton of carbon emissions a year.

[adb64]

VVV you're going wrong in your calculations for the power consumption of the LED, it will consume 0.0125 Wh and not 45 W/h.
So you're off by a factor 3600.

[vincevincevince]

adb64; as expected, you are right. Still more than a quarter of an ounce per person per year... or half a pound for every 30 WebmasterWorld users who take part!

[janharders]

How much more energy does my brain consume if I add the load to keep the num-lock-thingy in mind and how about those extra movements to switch it on and off, how does that affect savings?

[Quadrille]

... At current interest rates, not a lot. Better to put your thoughts in a piggy bank until the markets perk up.

BTW If you turned off the whole computer when not in use, you'd save a tad more.

[Yoshimi]

jeez, at this rate I'll be going home and sitting in the dark, how are the worlds paraffin levels, are we ok to use paraffin lamps?

[Mr Bo Jangles]

adb64 don't spoil the magic please with your little arithmetic 'tweaks' - VVV, carry on please. *_*

[rj87uk]

Just got me looking around the desktop... *turns off not in use printer & external HD*

[enigma1]

my kb numlock led is a dual one. It is red when off and green when on. Does the color affects the carbon emission figures?

[piatkow]

Turning off the printer and external HDD will save a lot more.

Switching everything off at the wall socket when not in use will save even more.

[rocknbil]

are we ok to use paraffin lamps

No. Paraffin (even by UK definition, kerosene) is a petroleum product, put all varieties in your SUV and drive them to Green Earth for proper recycling.

[jimbeetle]

are we okay to use paraffin lamps

You'll pay more if you're in Europe according to this NYT article: Inside Europe’s High-Living Wax Cartel [nytimes.com].

[Yoshimi]

Right, I'll just sit in the dark then shall I!

[Brett_Tabke]

btw: have you blown your mind on cosmos "energy" math lately?

200 billion galaxies with and average of [url=http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~gmackie/billions.html]400 billion stars [curious.astro.cornell.edu] (suns) in each one. Do the math on that one baby. 400 billion times 200 billion. Wow - that's alot of energy!

It those terms, it sure makes those screaming "energy crisis" seem absurdly laughable. I am all in favor of cutting carbon emissions, but surely not by cutting power usage. I am in favor of people using more and more energy. The universe is full of more energy than we can use in a trillion to the trillionth power of years. The answer is noncarbon based fuel. Wind, atomic, geo thermal, and solar are the combined answer (with atomic power the center peice).

;-)

[Quadrille]

are we okay to use paraffin lamps

No, but it is acceptable to use candles, if and only if they are home made from the bits of fat that you failed eat when you should have.

In times of severe lack-of-light distress, it is permissable to burn your neighbor's house down, provided that they had a habit of leaving their num-lock on.

NB - Perhaps I should stress that this a joke, do not try this at home.

[edited by: Quadrille at 8:31 pm (utc) on Dec. 12, 2008]

[anallawalla]

My BIOS lets me choose whether to have NumLock on or off by default. Mine is off as I almost never use the numeric pad.

Isn't it crazy how more and more devices have always-on LEDs when not actively in use?

• Microsoft mouse
  
• Webcam's six white LEDs unless the sun is shining into the room
  
• Status LEDs on phone, printer, charger, PC, external drive etc
  
• 8 blue LEDs on two fans in my new desktop!
  

[varya]

My keyboard has no leds at all and my home and office are on 100% windpower. Believe I shall leave numlock on.

Now, if only I could get the kids to quit leaving the stair light on.

[mcavic]

This is why I subscribe to Pure Power [ameren.com]. For an extra $15/month or so it guarantees that the electricity I use comes from renewable energy sources. It makes me feel better, since I have two PCs running 24/7.

[rj87uk]

I was thinking about putting a small wind turbine on my new houses roof aparently it won't cost too much however will power lights and some small things each year.

Sounds cool.

[rich_b]

Perhaps I should stress that this a joke, do not try this at home.

I'm not sure what bothers me more: The fact that I'm killing the earth by using my power hungry monitor to read a thread on turning off my num-lock light to save a tiny amount of power, or that you felt it necessary to clarify that burning a neighbours house down was not a serious suggestion!

[mcavic]

you felt it necessary to clarify that burning a neighbours house down was not a serious suggestion

See, that's a shame. I have a couple of neighbors I'd like to get rid of, but now I can't use this thread as a defense.

[Demaestro]

Great thanks.. now all I can do every time I walk into my server room is start calculating the annual output of all the LEDs in there.

[rich_b]

Don't forget the ones on the network ports at the back, oh - and on the motherboards too. You're just gonna have to open up all the servers to do this properly.

[Demaestro]

Oh trust me I didn't forget which is why I am not going back in there.