The soaring price of the digital lifestyle
You can't live without your e-mails, your MP3 player, your mobile phone, and your TV set. You are always hooked up talking to friends, buying online, downloading video clips and checking Facebook. But do you really know how much this digital lifestyle...
You can't live without your e-mails, your MP3 player, your mobile phone, and your TV set. You are always hooked up talking to friends, buying online, downloading video clips and checking Facebook. But do you really know how much this digital lifestyle is costing in terms of electricity bills? Which gadgets and which habits make our bills soar so much?
"Apart from the last two years, it was in the early to mid-nineties that customers used to enquire about energy efficient products. This was the time when the Energy Star standard and label was introduced by a US agency and incorporated in many products such as computers, monitors, home appliances and our consumer products," explained Tonio Paris, managing director of Sirap Limited, a ICT retail store that has been promoting energy saving equipment throughout the years.
"It is a totally different scenario now that everyone is experiencing rising overheads."
PCs do consume a considerable amount of power. Typically the monitor consumes about 150 watts while the tower can consume between 600w and 800w. LCD TFT screens consume much less power than the older CRT monitors and less space.
"We have been advising our customers to replace the old CRT monitors and recover the cost in the short term. This was the biggest energy saving measure that could be introduced in an office whilst at the same time improve productivity," added Mr Paris, one of the first to introduce LCD TFT monitors in Malta 10 years ago.
Business organisations seem to be more aware of the energy consumption level of their equipment as opposed to home users.
"Power consumption is one of the evaluation criteria which is closely analysed when assessing response to RFQ's (request for quotations) for computer hardware," said a spokesman for Bank of Valletta, which has 120 server computers and 2,000 personal computers in its nationwide network.
The bank has actively adopted a policy of server and storage consolidation through the use of Blade systems and as well as virtualisation technologies which reduce the power and cooling requirements. TFT screens are used and computers which are surplus to requirements are offered to NGOs. End-of-life products are sent for treatment, recycling, recovery or disposal in an environmentally friendly manner, the company spokesman insisted.
At home, it's a different story.
"I think only a small percentage of home users is aware how much electronic equipment consumes. People where asking whether an appliance is Class 'A' or not till last month only, to get the government rebate," according to Dominic Catania, sales manager at Edlens Ltd, operators of retail stores for electronic and white goods.
"Appliances such as refrigerators, although turned on all the time, actually cycle on and off at a rate that depends on a number of factors. These include how well it is insulated, room temperature, freezer temperature, how often the door is opened, if the coils are clean, if it is defrosted regularly, and the condition of the door seals. Some equipment does not have a true on/off switch, and can only be truly switched off by turning of the wall socket or removing the mains plug. Only in this way you're not consuming electricity," explained Mr Catania.
Adrian Micallef, brand manager at SG Solutions Ltd, local agents of Apple computers, confirmed that "still very few customers would ask for consumption details when purchasing a computer."
"When shopping for new computers or IT equipment, one should think of two price marks. The first one is the purchase price and the second would be the cost of operating this equipment. Much energy efficient equipment may cost more to buy, but have lower energy costs and save money," he added.
An Enemalta spokesman confirmed that there have been interesting shifts in consumption and purchasing patterns of ICT and home electronic equipment, whether these are related to government rebates or not.
According to these statistics by the Malta Resources Authority, to date over 38,000 applications were received for a rebate on "A" class electronic appliances. Furthermore, a survey that was carried out at the end of 2006 and during last year among electronic equipment wholesalers and shops showed that there is an increase in sales of 'A' class equipment, therefore confirming that the Maltese are becoming aware about the environmental impact of such appliances.
"The main noticeable difference in consumption over the past 10-20 years is the fact, that in the past, the highest peak demand would have been recorded in winter, when people typically use heaters, however in the past years the trend shifted to summer where highest peak demands are being registered in the hottest days due to air conditioning use. Due to the improvements in the local standard of living, the demand has increased considerably over the last decade," the Enemalta spokesman added.
All this use of technology has other side affects besides empty pockets. According to electrical engineer Anthony Magro the increase in IT equipment has caused a significant rise of so-called 'voltage harmonics' within the mains supply of electricity. This means that the electrical 'signal' derived from a mains may be significantly distorted due to the large presence of IT equipment and thus be of a "poorer" quality. Energy saving tips from the Enemalta blog and website at http://eneinfo.blogspot.com/ and www.enemalta.com.mt
"Apart from the last two years, it was in the early to mid-nineties that customers used to enquire about energy efficient products. This was the time when the Energy Star standard and label was introduced by a US agency and incorporated in many products such as computers, monitors, home appliances and our consumer products," explained Tonio Paris, managing director of Sirap Limited, a ICT retail store that has been promoting energy saving equipment throughout the years.
"It is a totally different scenario now that everyone is experiencing rising overheads."
PCs do consume a considerable amount of power. Typically the monitor consumes about 150 watts while the tower can consume between 600w and 800w. LCD TFT screens consume much less power than the older CRT monitors and less space.
"We have been advising our customers to replace the old CRT monitors and recover the cost in the short term. This was the biggest energy saving measure that could be introduced in an office whilst at the same time improve productivity," added Mr Paris, one of the first to introduce LCD TFT monitors in Malta 10 years ago.
Business organisations seem to be more aware of the energy consumption level of their equipment as opposed to home users.
"Power consumption is one of the evaluation criteria which is closely analysed when assessing response to RFQ's (request for quotations) for computer hardware," said a spokesman for Bank of Valletta, which has 120 server computers and 2,000 personal computers in its nationwide network.
The bank has actively adopted a policy of server and storage consolidation through the use of Blade systems and as well as virtualisation technologies which reduce the power and cooling requirements. TFT screens are used and computers which are surplus to requirements are offered to NGOs. End-of-life products are sent for treatment, recycling, recovery or disposal in an environmentally friendly manner, the company spokesman insisted.
At home, it's a different story.
"I think only a small percentage of home users is aware how much electronic equipment consumes. People where asking whether an appliance is Class 'A' or not till last month only, to get the government rebate," according to Dominic Catania, sales manager at Edlens Ltd, operators of retail stores for electronic and white goods.
"Appliances such as refrigerators, although turned on all the time, actually cycle on and off at a rate that depends on a number of factors. These include how well it is insulated, room temperature, freezer temperature, how often the door is opened, if the coils are clean, if it is defrosted regularly, and the condition of the door seals. Some equipment does not have a true on/off switch, and can only be truly switched off by turning of the wall socket or removing the mains plug. Only in this way you're not consuming electricity," explained Mr Catania.
Adrian Micallef, brand manager at SG Solutions Ltd, local agents of Apple computers, confirmed that "still very few customers would ask for consumption details when purchasing a computer."
"When shopping for new computers or IT equipment, one should think of two price marks. The first one is the purchase price and the second would be the cost of operating this equipment. Much energy efficient equipment may cost more to buy, but have lower energy costs and save money," he added.
An Enemalta spokesman confirmed that there have been interesting shifts in consumption and purchasing patterns of ICT and home electronic equipment, whether these are related to government rebates or not.
According to these statistics by the Malta Resources Authority, to date over 38,000 applications were received for a rebate on "A" class electronic appliances. Furthermore, a survey that was carried out at the end of 2006 and during last year among electronic equipment wholesalers and shops showed that there is an increase in sales of 'A' class equipment, therefore confirming that the Maltese are becoming aware about the environmental impact of such appliances.
"The main noticeable difference in consumption over the past 10-20 years is the fact, that in the past, the highest peak demand would have been recorded in winter, when people typically use heaters, however in the past years the trend shifted to summer where highest peak demands are being registered in the hottest days due to air conditioning use. Due to the improvements in the local standard of living, the demand has increased considerably over the last decade," the Enemalta spokesman added.
All this use of technology has other side affects besides empty pockets. According to electrical engineer Anthony Magro the increase in IT equipment has caused a significant rise of so-called 'voltage harmonics' within the mains supply of electricity. This means that the electrical 'signal' derived from a mains may be significantly distorted due to the large presence of IT equipment and thus be of a "poorer" quality. Energy saving tips from the Enemalta blog and website at http://eneinfo.blogspot.com/ and www.enemalta.com.mt