PCs in California must meet energy efficiency thresholds starting in 2019

Image used with permission of the copyright holder. New rules in California could lead to increased use of more efficient power supplies for electronic devices, as manufacturers and retailers begin to face stricter energy ratings for desktop and laptop computers. By focusing on hibernation, sleep and shutdown rather than active use, environmental groups believe this could reduce the nation’s computer power consumption by as much as a third.

While anyone building a gaming PC may be very familiar with the 80-Plus ratings for power and efficiency that can be achieved as you move through the precious metal ratings, they are far less common in many standard systems.

Although the California Energy Commission (CEC) doesn’t specify what efficiency levels are required in its public FAQ, it suggests that only 10 percent of desktop computers sold in the state currently meet them. Monitors are not much better, with only 14 percent now meeting the required standards (thanks Ars).

Efficiency thresholds have been created for different types of systems and will be imposed on all retailers and manufacturers by January 1, 2019. When they come into play, CEC believes it will see savings of around 2,332 GWh per year, which works out to some $373 million in savings on utility bills.

While we’re told the new desktops are expected to cost about $10 more because of the efficiency improvements, they should save consumers about $40 over two years on energy bills, and even more if used longer.

With more than 70 percent of laptops said to already meet efficiency standards, some of the biggest energy savings could come from workstations and servers. There are 530,000 of the former and 300,000 smaller versions of the latter, both of which tend to have much longer uptime than their consumer counterparts.

Implementing new efficiency standards for this equipment when idle and idle will help save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The standards for these enterprise-focused systems will go into effect on January 1, 2018.

The only listed products that will have to meet energy efficiency levels when in active use are monitors. With only 14 percent of currently available displays already meeting those goals, their efficiency could also help reduce the electricity needs of the nation’s high-end electronics by reasonable limits.

The monitor standards will go into effect on July 1, 2019, with the second tier of standards coming into effect on January 1, 2021. The new “Tier 2” desktop standards will arrive later that year, on July 1, 2019.

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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn

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