Power Efficient Home Offices Can Save Money and Polar Bears

Cramming a hundred people in tiny cubicles under fluorescent lighting is cheaper than having individual offices for everyone, or home offices. Then again, working from home or working from a crappy cubicle… No contest :)

More and more people are either working from home offices on a daily basis, or bringing a lot of work home. The numbers are bound to go up, I mean it’s good for employers and employees, probably good for public health, environment and so on. There’s still a long way to go though.

Come to think of it, telecommuting and self-employment isn’t very power efficient. Although people don’t drive to work, there’s really no big incentive to use the most efficient devices. They cost a lot, and big companies are more likely to embrace these new technologies and products. They also get better pricing (they buy fleets of cars, hundreds of computers at a time, sophisticated heating and air conditioning and so on).

What about installing a bunch of solar panels on the roof? It’s expensive and they degrade over time, so is it worth it? I know many European governments offer subsidies for sustainable energy investments, or cheap credit if you want to make your home more efficient, but I’m still not sure it’s an option for most people (it also depends on geography and a few other factors).

For me, switching from "old school" light bulbs to LED and switching my old PC with new MPB resulted in a visible drop in my electricity bill. It's not gonna make me rich or anything but it's a good start and I after reading this I believe I've contributed to saving baby polar bears too ;)

Integrated all in one desktops, or small desktops like the NUC should be a good choice for many people. Of course, they can’t completely replace traditional desktops for everyone, but they are fast enough for most. If you don’t want to run games, edit video and so on, you can easily replace your tower with small desktop like the NUC or Mac mini. I expect to see more of them, along with more all in ones. Personally, I lean toward small desktops rather than all in ones. They make more sense from a financial perspective. They are easier to upgrade, repair or simply replace while keeping your old monitor. Plus, there are loads of panel sizes to choose from, and more resolutions including 4K.

A lot of home users have already moved to laptops, but not all. People who are into gaming will continue using desktops, along with all sorts of professionals (designers and so on). I am talking about proper desktops, towers with big motherboards, graphics cards and so on. These machines aren’t going anywhere yet, there is simply no substitute. Most people I know still use desktops in their home offices.

The standard of living is different in different parts of the world. Even relatively small savings can mean a lot in some countries. However, investing in cutting edge efficiency can be prohibitively expensive if your household income is $1000 or so. New PCs, monitors, AC units - they all cost the same no matter where you live. Energy does not.

The problem with hardware is that it’s already very efficient and things are getting better. If you have a really old computer, yes, upgrade is probably worth it. If you use laptops, I don’t think so. A lot of people stopped buying desktops already, because laptops became so cheap (if you need big monitor, you can always buy plug it in)

I think it all depends on where you live and how much you pay already (as the author pointed out). This is basically a guide for developed countries, with very high power costs. Investing in home office efficiency in many parts of the world won’t save you much money, and might not be worth it, although it is good for the environment.

I doubt Nest and the Tesla battery will take off all over the world, maybe in a decade or so, but not soon. However, I think smart sockets could be useful if you want to save power without investing thousands of $$$

Love the article. Advice in there do show a way how easy it is to make a little better organization of your living and work space for a lot of gain.

That's what I call an useful post! My wife will be happy with all these ideas to decrease our electricity bill.

Also, going to a coffee shop with a Chromebook is saving a lot of energy at home, I'd say ;)

very insightful and informative