DF: Can't afford electricity!

[mikela78]

Hey TeAm,

I'm going to have to cut down my production dramatically because of my current employment situation (unpaid internship) and electricity prices. Running my three computers full time costs me an estimated $38 per month, calculated as 150W per computer and $0.112/kWH (Southern California Edison prices). That's almost as bad as my cell phone bill!

It's a little depressing, but I just don't need more than a tenth of this power now that I have the very internship the computers were purchased to help me get. (I've been using them for development and rendering of my visual effects demo reel.) I don't want to sell off of my computers just yet, as I hope to have enough income to support DF after my internship ends in June and I might still need to render a demo reel. I'll probably leave my computers on for a few more days, but eventually I'll just have to turn them off. And maybe I'll feel too much regret and decide to turn them back on a little...

It's a shame all the more because my computers are actually rather efficient in terms of output per kWH, as they are modern processors. My computers are:

Athlon 2500+ @ 11x175, 1.65V
MSI K7N2 Delta-L
ATI FireGL 8800
Quantum 17GB 5200RPM
CD-R
RaidMax 350W PS

Athlon 2400-M @ 11x200, 1.6V
Abit NF7
ATI FireGL 8800
WD 80GB 7200RPM
CD-ROM
L&C 350W PS

Penitum 4 2.6C @ 250FSB
Asus P4P800D
nVIDIA Ti-4200
WD 40GB 7200RPM
CD-ROM
Thermaltake Purepower 420W PS

I don't know how some people can afford a dozen Durons and ECS Motherboards in the long term unless they have lots of cheap hydro power nearby...

Mike Anderson

 

[osage]

I feel your pain...........I have 16 rigs running here at home, diff project but the results are the same as far as the elect co. is concerned.

 

[InlineFive]

I don't know if you do this but turn off every CRT you own.

-Por

 

[titanmiller]

Wow! 11 cents per kwh, that is crazy, we only pay ~3 cents.

Sorry to hear you have to cut down, but there are other things that need to come first.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

I still say everyone who has interns do work for them, should at least pay them something. Even in the old days of apprenticeship the mentor would pay the room and board for the apprentice.

 

[mikela78]

The unpaid internship...I wish there was a different way. I have to pay out-of-state tuition to a school where I don't need the credit (I already have my degrees) because the studio can't afford to train anyone--not that I need much training. They essentially require that you have two years of production experience before they pay you, but if you're talented and they're in a jam things might work differently.

Room and board? This is utterly impossible in Southern California with a low-end paying job, not to mention an unpaid internship. It's lucky I can live with my aunt...

osage: is that 16 rigs at Southern California Edison prices? Too much.