I've considered that, too, Assimiliator. The problem is that if I start putting it back on any I'll want to do it on ALL of them.
And there are actually only a few i3 rigs so eliminating just those won't make a huge difference. Most of the computers are 3rd and 4th generation i5 systems.
However, I AM trying to convince myself to just run BOINC on them anyway, so I've been doing some rough figuring. I'll post my results here in part so I can look at them, and also so you folks can tell me if I'm way off or not.
Using a power supply calculator, I estimate that the i5 computers should be pulling somewhere around 170-200 watts (for the whole system) when running at 100% and about 80-90 watts without BOINC (actual office use is pretty light on the system resources). My rate is 9.89 cents per kilowatt, which, if my math is right, means it costs about $156 per year to run one system at 100% 24/7, and about $23 per year to just have it on (and not running BOINC) during business hours and asleep or off the rest of the time. $133 more for a year doesn't seem like much, but multiplied by the 24 computers it adds up pretty quick.
On the other hand, if I just let BOINC run during business hours while the computers have to be on anyway, that would cost about $52 per year instead of $23 to have them doing almost nothing. An extra $29 per year (times 24) doesn't hurt the bank balance as much as $133, but it also wouldn't produce nearly as much BOINC work and has the potential to interfere with our stupid, unfriendly, poorly written (but the only available option) insurance agency management software...
I'll have to think about it some more to talk myself into doing it.