Computers can also be designed to save energy by shutting down the hard disk drive, CPU, communication ports and peripherals after a user designated period of inactivity. Users can set various levels of energy savings by modifying the system BIOS at startup or through software. There are also numerous ES compliant add-on devices available to reduce office equipment loads without internal power saving capabilities. All of these controls completely switch off equipment, and consequently have a longer lag time than internal devices. However, many of these devices can offer increased savings since they can control additional office plug loads such as fans, task lights, etc.
Users can often configure the device to meet their specific needs.
Prior Research Recent surveys have shown that the use of personal computer systems in commercial office buildings is expanding rapidly. The energy consumption of such a growing end-use also has a significant impact on the total building power demand. Similarly, Patel et al. A laser printer in the same study with a nameplate power rating of 900 W used only 575 W when printing and 31 W when idle. They also tested a device on 11 workstations which turns off monitors during periods of keyboard inactivity.