Computer Monitor Power Requirements

[wind_magic]

Interesting tidbit, I tested a 21" Sony LCD monitor to see how much power it was actually using and when it is on it uses 61 watts (tested with a Kill-a-watt measuring device), about as much as a light bulb. What I did not expect though was what happens when the computer is configured to turn the display off to save power, the power then drops to such a low level that the Kill-a-watt measures it as bouncing between 0 and 1 watt. What does that mean ? If your monitor uses as little power as mine does when it is in power savings mode then you should be able to use a full sized LCD monitor on your boat without any problems, just set your computer to turn the monitor off after like a minute. Just make sure that wave action doesn't move your mouse around, that'll turn the monitor back on. There are a lot of places we can save electricity, but a computer's full sized LCD monitor is probably not one of those places. Don't forget to set your computer to go into power save mode after a while too to save even more power!

It is probably a good idea to test whatever monitor you are using to see how much power it actually uses because I don't think that all monitors have this power save mode. The Sony puts up a little message saying that it has lost signal and that it is entering power save mode, and that is when it goes down to about 1 watt.

[hellosailor]

"If your monitor uses as little power as mine does when it is in power savings mode "
Computer...boat...What's wrong with using the power button on a monitor that doesn't sleep so thriftily?

[brak]

any modern monitor has this exact same sleep function. it is both part of the standard and, really, not too complicated - all it does is turn off the backlight.

[scottyt]

i use a monitor for tv thru the lap top ( 10 inch notebook ) it says it draws 3 amps, for a 15 inch screen. so yes it can be a small load.