this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
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I'm in the process of getting my Home Assistant environment up and running, and decided to run a test: it turns out that my gaming PC (custom 5800X3D/7900XTX build) uses more power just sitting idle, than both of my storage freezers combined.

Background: In addition to some other things, I bought two "Eightree" brand Zigbee-compatible plugs to see how they fare. One is monitoring the power usage of both freezers on a power strip (don't worry, it's a heavy duty strip meant for this), and the other is measuring the usage of my entire desktop setup (including monitors and the HA server itself, a Lenovo M710q).

After monitoring these for a couple days, I decided that I will shut off my PC unless I'm actively using it. It's not a server, but it does have WOL capability, so if I absolutely need to get into it remotely, it won't be an issue.

Pretty fascinating stuff, and now my wife is completely on board as well; she wants to put a plug on her iMac to see what it draws, as she uses it to hold her cross-stitch files and other things.

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[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I bought two “Eightree” brand Zigbee-compatible plugs to see how they fare.

Did you need a Zigbee hub to get them working? I was gifted an Eighttree Zigbee plug with energy monitoring, but it seems to require using a hardware hub :(

[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, anything Zigbee needs a hub of some sort that interfaces with the server. Zigbee is a mesh-like network of its own - it doesn't use wifi or Bluetooth or anything.

I bought Nabu Casa's Connect ZBT-1 dongle; it's like $35 and plugs directly into the HA server. Super simple to configure as well, since HAOS detects it automatically. Plus, the smart plugs act as routers, so as long as there is a path of router-enabled devices that can see each other all the way to the dongle on the server, you shouldn't need anything else.

[–] Cooljimy84@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What res is that monitor ? My 2k monitor is pretty hungry compared to my old 1080. Even just looking at the uk energy efficiency ratings for 4k tells shocks me !

[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Right now I just run dual 1080p. I plan on upgrading to a 120Hz+ 1440p ultrawide at some point, but priorities... My entire desk setup is currently consuming 12 watts with the PC shut off. That's ~90W just from the PC.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is your GPU reducing the VRAM frequency when it's idle?

If the vertical timing is different between the monitors, the VRAM will have to run at maximum speed all the time and that can add 20 watts or more to your idle power consumption.

[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

No idea, honestly, it's just the default settings. I haven't really had any time to tinker and optimize it to my liking for a while.

[–] Cooljimy84@lemmy.world 0 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

So my partner and I use laptops (small flat) so really sip power compared to the 65 watt of the monitor

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[–] Majorllama@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (9 children)

I got a UPS cause the breaker to my room likes to trip if I am gaming and someone in the house decides to microwave something for 10 minutes. My desktop, three monitors (2x1080p 60hz + a 1440p 144hz) and my 3d printer all running at full tilt will suck my 1500w UPS dry in about 2 minutes lol.

If I'm not gaming and say just watching YouTube while not 3d printing anything that same UPS can run for almost 15 minutes.

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