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JimS · 07-21-2003, 09:34 AM

bigben, while I agree with your calculations, you are assuming 24 hours a day PC useage. Most people don't even approach 12 hours a day so you could probably cut your costs at least in half, probably by 2/3. Your calculations show just about what my system cost me in months of high use, about $6. During average or lite use, it doesn't cost me much more than running a 100 watt light bulb continuously for a month.

Obviously when using a pelt cooled system, you would tend to shut it off when it is not in use. For those who have to have their system on 24/7, pelt or even phase change cooling is not cost effective.

If my memory is right, a refrigerator compressor uses about 1,000W per hour of use, or 1 kwh. I know that the phase change cooling systems use similar models, or maybe a bit smaller. If this unit were on 8 hours a day, it would cost $.56/day, or $15/month to run the PC for an average of 8 hours per day. About triple what it would cost to run 300W worth of pelts.

The phase change will of course provide a much higher degree of cooling, but it will also cost more.

07-21-2003, 09:34 AM	#11
JimS Cooling Savant Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Connecticut Posts: 140	bigben, while I agree with your calculations, you are assuming 24 hours a day PC useage. Most people don't even approach 12 hours a day so you could probably cut your costs at least in half, probably by 2/3. Your calculations show just about what my system cost me in months of high use, about $6. During average or lite use, it doesn't cost me much more than running a 100 watt light bulb continuously for a month. Obviously when using a pelt cooled system, you would tend to shut it off when it is not in use. For those who have to have their system on 24/7, pelt or even phase change cooling is not cost effective. If my memory is right, a refrigerator compressor uses about 1,000W per hour of use, or 1 kwh. I know that the phase change cooling systems use similar models, or maybe a bit smaller. If this unit were on 8 hours a day, it would cost $.56/day, or $15/month to run the PC for an average of 8 hours per day. About triple what it would cost to run 300W worth of pelts. The phase change will of course provide a much higher degree of cooling, but it will also cost more. Last edited by JimS; 07-21-2003 at 01:38 PM.