[ale] OT: Calculating PC power consumption

[Doug McNash]

FWIW:

I have 3 machines with about 9-10 disks in them and a 19" CRT  monitor 
running off a UPS.  The UPS reports I am using about 380 watts steady state.
One of my motherboard manuals says the bareboard will draw 200-300 watts.  I 
have 3+ so both can't be right?  My machines are mostly idle.

Also to be complete and accurate you need to figure what it costs to 
remove the waste heat dumped into your living quarters by your servers in the 
summer time.  I would assume that the savings during the winter don't 
completely offset the extra cost in the summer since heating is cheaper 
than cooling, at least for my house.