HI SYN!

I’ve come up with a plan to reduce my footprint but it’s going to cost me a few bucks to get it done to really cut down on my power usage.

If I create a small EPIA computer to take over Wireless Access Point and Firewall/VPN duties and keep the power consumption under 12W that will reduce the footprint for those two items from 50W to <12W.  (Power Saved: 38W)

Next up is the computer situation. My laptop isn’t going anywhere. However the systems I use can be tweaked.  I can’t remove the gaming system, but I can stop using it and shift watching anime, listening to music and some basic gaming stuff to the Ubuntu box. As for the Ubuntu Box, I want to lower it’s footprint complete.  If I get a LCD monitor that will lower the footprint some.  Then if I build a new’ish mini-ITX system I should be able to do everything I am now and then some with a much lower power consumption.  How much? I don’t know just yet, time to research parts + prices (Power Saved: 180w+?)

As for my file server, I think I’m going to leave it shut off most of the time and use it to back up files to. I’ll keep all my mp3s on my Ubuntu box and install a bit torrent client on the Ubuntu box so I can download to it in the background.  (Power Saved: 50W)

Crazy plan? (268w+ power saved!) Yeah possibly, but the power savings could be huge if I have a 50W server off all the time, a 180W gaming rig off most of the time and reduce my Ubuntu box’s powah footprint.

I see this as the first necessary step to reducing what I use for when I have a house and I can have a solar + wind power solution in place. I should really see a difference in how much power I use through my monthly bill.