[ale] current pulled by computer power supply

[Robert Stickel]

Getting a little off-topic here, but several people on this list have
discussed X10 home-control products with Linux and now that everyone is
rushing out to buy screw-in fluorescent bulbs, a little heads-up:

I tried controlling a screw-in fluorescent with an X10 appliance module
(not the lamp module) and it came on fine but when I switched it off
there was a bright flash and the bulb died.  Thinking it was a
coincidence, I tried again with a new bulb - same thing.  That's two
bulbs at about $15 each.

That's just my $30 ...

--bs


Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> 
> When I worked for the DOE, space heaters in the 1500W-range on our wing had
> the effect of dropping down the line voltage for an NT server to as low as
> under 90VAC.  Thank goodness the APC Smart-UPS I put on that machine had a
> step-up mode, because it sure needed it!
> 
> I have put screw-in fluorescents in several key fixtures throughout my
> house.  Yes, they're a bit expensive (although Home Depot does carry a make
> that's significantly less expensive), but my motivations are twofold:
> reduce electrical consumption and reduce heat generation.
> 
> Now that the unintended consequences of the deregulation of the electric
> utilities are coming home to roost, I think it's incumbent upon everyone to
> do *something* to reduce their electric consumption.  The alternative is
> enduring "rolling blackouts" of the sort that are already occurring in some
> parts of the country.
> 
> - Jeff
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Glenn C. Lasher Jr. [mailto:critter at wizvax.net]
> > Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2000 10:00 PM
> > To: Michael H. Warfield
> > Cc: Wandered Inn; ALE
> > Subject: Re: [ale] current pulled by computer power supply
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 20 Aug 2000, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> >
> > >     In dealing with the overloads, we discovered that one real BAD
> > > boy in our office were these halogen mood lamps that some
> > managers loved.
> > > Each one is about 250 Watts, drawing over 2 Amps each.  The
> > jerks would
> > > have two of these things burning in their office.  Their
> > entire computer
> > > would be pulling less than 1.5 amps and their tossing
> > almost 5 amps on
> > > their damn lights.  They were really pissed when I shut
> > them all down.
> > > One even challenged me saying "well just how do YOU know
> > they draw all
> > > this power?"  I pulled out the current meter and they shut up real
> > > quick.  The VP of engineering was just rolling on the floor
> > at that point.
> >
> > Sure.  I can remember reading in the manual for an computer I had once
> > upon a time (I think it was the C-64 I had in the early 80's) that
> > computers draw less power than a light bulb.  Seems like it holds true
> > today, eh?
> >
> > On lights:  I have a terminally low electric bill for my
> > house, despite
> > having several computers running 24/7, my main box, Hermes,
> > even sounds
> > like he should draw a lot (he has 4 cooling fans, including
> > those in an
> > external SCSI enclosure) but they don't draw much.  I have my
> > whole home
> > lit with fluorescent lights, and so the overall bill is
> > extremely low.
> > The utility reports that our usage is about 1/3 of the average.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Critter at Wizvax.Net
> > Don't Steal - The government hates competition.
> >
> >
> > --
> > To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale"
> > in message body.
> >
> --
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-- 
Robert Stickel
rstickel at mindspring.com
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