5 Misconceptions About PC Energy Saving Software

There are numerous benefits to using PC energy saving software. However, you may be misinformed about some of them and that misinformation may be standing in the way of saving your company energy and money.

In this article, we’re going to dispel five common myths about PC power management.

1. Misconception: My screen saver is saving me energy.

Reality: Using screen savers is not computer power management. Merely setting all your PCs to go to a screen saver overnight won't save you any energy, and may actually use even more energy than a computer that's simply left on.

2. Misconception: I have no way of tracking and reporting the benefits of PC Power Management.

Reality: Surveyor dashboard gives you insight into your PC Power Management software’s performance. The feature enables IT administrators to quickly measure how PCs in any part of an enterprise are making use of computer power management software. Among the features of the dashboard are a customizable readout that can highlight a range of power management settings: the percent of PCs using power management, the geographical or departmental distribution of PCs with energy saving enabled, savings per day, or the total cost, carbon and energy savings from having the Surveyor software enabled in the enterprise. The dashboard also offers real-time results and embeddable charts to highlight the environmental or economic benefits the company has accrued to date.

3. Misconception: I have to buy new, energy-efficient hardware to reduce energy consumption.

Reality: PC energy saving software requires no new hardware and is easy to install and implement.  The implementation of Verdiem’s Surveyor software will only require 6 hours total of IT resources. Rolling out the Surveyor client is no different than implementing software patches on the network.

4. Misconception: I use just as much power turning my PC on as I might save by turning it off, so I should just leave it on all the time.

Reality: The idea that a computer takes more power to boot up is a myth. There is no benefit to leaving a computer on rather than turning it off at night, from a power usage standpoint.

5. Misconception: The business case for PC Power Management isn't very compelling.

Reality: Activating power management on just 25 percent of PCs would cut computers' annual electricity use by 10 million megawatt-hours, or enough to power four million homes for a year. AT&T put power management to use on 310,000 of its computers, and expects to save $13 million per year in electricity costs as a result.