Houseboat Energy Savings Tips - power consumption of computers and laptops

by Nathan Hampton
(Fairview, OK)

If your interested in houseboat energy savings, have a look at the power consumption of desktop computers, laptops, and netbooks to compare the amount of wattage that they draw.

I just read the article on saving energy before installing a wind or solar power. A simple change that can have a HUGE power savings is changing your PC from a desktop, to a laptop or even a netbook.

Many desktop power supplies are in the 2000W range.
Laptop power supplies usually are in the 180W range.
My little Acer netbook only pulls 30W.

Since laptops and netbooks usually have batteries anyway the manufacturer is induced to reduce power consumption and offer all manner of reduced power consumption options that desktops can't usually touch.

These also tend to work better with inverters since they clean the power two or three times before using it and are less susceptible to brown out and power spikes.

Further, some manufacturers even offer direct DC supplies to reduce power loss in converting generated power from DC -> AC -> DC. At a mere 30W, a netbook can almost be a self-sufficient appliance in its own right with a direct solar array fed directly to it.

I just wanted to share my thoughts, Nathan of Fairview, OK.

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Reply - Answer
Well Nathan, welcome to the houseboat forums, and congratulations on discovering the huge differences on power consumption between desktop PC's, and laptops or netbooks.

On our houseboat, and as part of our daily lives, we use a laptop, gps, and marine navigation software, and it all makes planning our trips a simple breeze.

Another one of major advantages of laptops and netbooks is their size and mobility, and because of their low power requirements, it can all be handled by a small AC-DC power inverter, or a solar panel.

A big benefit of all these energy saving tips, many houseboaters now have solar panels installed. Many of our readers have submitted articles on how their houseboats are powered by solar panels.


Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their experiences with laptops or desktop computers on their houseboats. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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