I just calculated and realize that it costs me about $20.00 a day to support my crunching habit.

Anywhere between 500.00 and 800.00...a month.
Not per quarter...per month, kiddos.

Just pure electricity bills. And this is in the USA, where I am sure mine are not the highest in the world.

Just a side note for anybody wondering what it truly costs.
And I am running legacy hardware.......a lot of 580s, which do a wonderful job of crunching, but also chew through amps like ants through sugar.

A few years ago, I ran a 50amp 240v subfeed box and line to my living room to feed the crunchers. I was in danger of frying the existing house wiring just to feed my crunching habit. Luckily, I am an electrician, and both reckognized the problem and was able to deal with it in accordance.
Now my rigs have many amps of juice to run..........but I still have to pay for the mains supply......

Meowsigh.

It's really kind of you to make such a big investment.

You might get a lot more mileage and a lower cost by stopping work for a few months and upgrading your cards to some Maxwells with the money you're saving.

May I ask, how many graphics cards do you have in operation?

I just calculated and realize that it costs me about $20.00 a day to support my crunching habit.

Anywhere between 500.00 and 800.00...a month.
Not per quarter...per month, kiddos.

Just pure electricity bills. And this is in the USA, where I am sure mine are not the highest in the world.

Just a side note for anybody wondering what it truly costs.
And I am running legacy hardware.......a lot of 580s, which do a wonderful job of crunching, but also chew through amps like ants through sugar.

It's really kind of you to make such a big investment.

You might get a lot more mileage and a lower cost by stopping work for a few months and upgrading your cards to some Maxwells with the money you're saving.

May I ask, how many graphics cards do you have in operation?

How much does Electricity cost you per KWh?

Now, if you look at that bill, it would be very easy for me to cut it in half. I am on 'time of use' rating...
This bill shows 230 bucks at the cheap rate and 544 bucks for crunching during the day when they whack me for the full monty.
But, what's the fun in crunching half arsed? LOL.

.

Meowsigh.

Total power bill (Minnesota) is running an average of $325/month for an all electric house. Of course half the year (or more) they're heating the house (almost totally).

You can configure Boinc to not run during time frames. I do this as my 3h/day (M-F) peak is £0.28/KWh ($0.42)! Normal rate isn't great £0.15 ($0.23) and low is about £0.11 ($0.17).

Boinc Manager (advanced view),
Tools, Computing Preferences, under the Processor usage tab set the time exclusions,
Every day between the hours of 19:00 and 16:00 will mean Boinc runs between 7pm and 4pm but pause from 4pm to 7pm.
- Obviously adjust to your peak hours.

Credit per € / $

The power usage would be 2.03KW rather than 3.8KW.

Try this one....
I have a 240v 50amp subfeed box supplying the crunchers.
I have it about 90% utilized.
That would be 45amps @240v.
Meaning I am using about 10.8kw from the mains.
Which converts to...
10.8 Kwh = 36851.129604 Btu
No wonder the crunching den is staying reasonably warm even with outside temps hovering around zero f.

Okay, here's my prescription:

If you're dead set on running at maximum capacity without taking any breaks, you can probably STILL afford to upgrade everything.

Take out a personal loan from your bank.
If they have any reservations, well, you've already done the math that their loan can be paid back in about year's time.

Order fifteen cards, to be sent to your home.
Use a secondary credit card, or a debit card, and order the rest to be sent to either your place of work or a trusted friend's house. You can offer some tech support for their trouble.

You'll start saving by month #1 or #2, and can switch out the inefficient parts later when they go on sale.

PS. Zone heating is much more efficient than full house heating. That's another upgrade you could make that would pay for itself within a few months. If you're really set on whole house heating, possibly the furnace could do with an upgrade, or at least an inspection for further advice.

LOL...
The furnace is the original Bard oil burner in this 50yo house.
Yes, it does need an upgrade. I do check the heat exchanger and exhaust stack every year for leaks. And have a couple of CO monitors online at all times. As the saying goes, they just don't build them like that anymore.

As to loans.... I am tapped out. I am still working off of debts I acquired in my early crunching days when I was a younger pup and spent thousands on computer bits. I had a great job selling industrial electronics, but the owner sold out and I was left on the street looking for several years with all that debt still demanding to be paid. Rough times.

I am finally working those debts down. I get paid pretty well these days building fire trucks for a living, and things are getting fairly under control again.

My monthly expenditures for cruncher juice are my biggest outgo now.
And ATT is just wanking away at me increasing my internet access bills.
The bastards seem to be charging me by the freaking minute.
You might possibly understand how having 9 rigs crunching Seti 24/7 can eat up a lot of bandwidth, kids. It is another factor.
And there is just no way I can go forward until some bills go away.
I AM getting there, my friend. And your advice is not in error.
It is just the fact of the matter that I am moored where I am just now, and it is not going to change anytime soon.

And ATT is just wanking away at me increasing my internet access bills.
The bastards seem to be charging me by the freaking minute.

Total power bill (Minnesota) is running an average of $325/month for an all electric house. Of course half the year (or more) they're heating the house (almost totally).

Do you know how many BTU's you're DC systems provide? For example: a cord of white birth is 20million BTU. One split 16-18in x 4in x 6in log is roughly ~13K BTU's. A 40Ib bag of wood pellets provide 345K BTU's.
Price for [1] cord of non-seasoned wood is about 225-330$ during New England Winter. Not as harsh as (Northern) Minnesota but close. (I buy and cut my wood in Spring when a cord is 150-175$ and let it season) During the Winter for [3] wood [1] pellet stove(s): I burn about 5/6 cords and 1/4 Ton of pellets. (British Thermal Unit or BTU - is defined as the amount of thermal energy it takes to raise one pound of water one degree F.)

And ATT is just wanking away at me increasing my internet access bills.
The bastards seem to be charging me by the freaking minute.

I feel your pain. I dumped American Thieves and Thugs a few years ago because they wouldn't grandfather in my 3GS iPhone after I'd been using it with no data plan for a year. They said a data plan was mandatory on an iPhone on their network. I told them to stick their data plan where the sun don't shine and took my business to T-mobile. They lost a $5k a year customer(phones,internet and U-verse)over a $30 data plan. Morons.

Rest in peace, beloved Cocoa....
I lost my eldest kitty at the age of 18y, 8mo about a year ago, and I still shed a tear or two for her from time to time.
Her dear sister left me at the young age of 5-1/2yo from genetic kidney failure after a 9 month fight involving subq fluids every single day to shore her up.

I still have her 3 stepsisters...aged 14 years and counting.

God bless our companion animals....

Meow.

I leave the project for loong time because of the GPU core is loaded is barely 60-65
% With my gtx 980 it averaged 60-73 and 25-40 core memory. It depends on the type of unit. gerard is completely tragic.
This is a lack of! It's a waste of resources if I have several computers from the NVIDIA, and each is only 60-80% power to GPUGrid.

I know that this project will have a problem when counting taks without errors.
problem is more complicated, because why not gpu grid to run on 95% load
unfortunately it is a big waste of resources.
and the new Top-average performers (last week long runs) im dont like too..how some peple get to top 10 i dont understod ..
But if you have 3 gtx980 at 60% load ... is a big waste of resources petebe -)

Hi Meowsigh

Two things. Ther First: You're a lucky man because you pay for a consumption of 6326 kWh only $ 812.44. Here in Germany the identical consumption would cause costs of € 1770 ($ 2046).
The second: If you don't upgrade your hardware, you remain caught in your own trap. Forever. That's the simple truth.
____________
Regards, Josef

msattler: feel sorry for you - sounds like you have a bit of an addiction problem, all be it a very honorable one. Seriously take these guys advice - put your old machines / cards on ebay whilst they still have some value to gamers. As an incentive think also of the environmental impact of all that energy being wasted.
- My guess the soon to be released 960 will be the bang per buck per watt card to buy, time will tell.

if you are in debt and crunching costs you 20$ per day I would suggest taking a break / selling machines. At least for me it would not be worth ruining my life prospects for crunching.

I thank you for all of your well-intentioned posts here.
But, don't pity ME, LOL.
I have a good paying job, work some long hours, and things are quite under control. I contribute a bit here at GPUGRID when the crunchers run out of Seti work. My rigs cost a little more than some of yours to keep in electricity, but they crunch hard and I am happy with that.

I am the #1 single home user of Seti on the planet. That is a source of pride and joy to me, even if it won't buy me a cuppa coffee in my retirement age.

For now, it all works. I am advancing on my debts, and when the time comes and the funds allow, I might indulge in some upgrades. Old hardware does present it's problems at times, but I have been adept in dealing with it.

I have built much of my crunching farm with gifts of other cruncher's upgrade pullouts. And that is why I am a generation or two behind some of you.

I don't have the time or inclination to start yanking things apart, investing in new cards, and trying to hawk the old stuff on ebay. It just ain't gonna happen.
I'll pay the slightly increased electricity costs and run what I have until it bites the dust or some kind soul donates some more pulls to me.
For now, my friends, it serves me well.

Meow for now,
Mark

I am the #1 single home user of Seti on the planet. That is a source of pride and joy to me, even if it won't buy me a cuppa coffee in my retirement age.

I am the #1 single home user of Seti on the planet. That is a source of pride and joy to me, even if it won't buy me a cuppa coffee in my retirement age.

Congrats on the SETI accomplishment, quite impressive. Maybe you'll get an invite when the first aliens land :-)

LOL...or not......

I just looked up my past year's electric bills and did the math.
Hang on tight, here is what running my farm costs.....

1/22/15 689.41 5531kwh
12/18/14 473.40 3652kwh
11/17/14 527.82 4267kwh
10/17/14 640.84 4631kwh
9/18/14 532.65 3938kwh
8/19/14 742.42 5256kwh
7/21/14 812.44 6326kwh
6/19/14 768.20 5737kwh
5/20/14 756.71 5502kwh
4/21/14 715.03 5602kwh
3/20/14 644.05 4946kwh
2/19/14 608.29 4689kwh

One year running total?
$7,911.26 and 60,077kwh.

I estimate that 95% of that is supporting the crunchers 24/7/365.

Meow!!!

I am just gonna tough it out.
Not that some of the suggestions made here are not valid.
But the time and trouble to implement them are just too much for me to undertake right now.

Besides, the kitties have the crunchers kicking some real ass on Seti at present.
I love it when what I have works well.

I did survey replacing a lower card with a 680 on my top rig just a bit ago.
The problem is with getting 2 six pin connectors on the current card upgraded to 2 eight pin connectors. The PSU has the moxy...but not enough molex connectors to kludge via adapters. The main connectors are already taken by the 3 680s.

Might look for more adapter kludgy thingys tomorrow.

No offensive but man, you have a serious problem.
I have been working for 8 years in support group, you would fit there well.
As I see it you even realised that something is wrong but you are ignoring every suggestion...
BTW "I love it when what I have works well." - that's not true. You are overpaying for wasted electricity. New cards would do the same or better job with less powerdrain and would save you a lot of money.

- Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences.

- The two properties that characterize all addictive stimuli are that they are (positively) reinforcing (i.e., they increase the likelihood that a person will seek repeated exposure to them) and intrinsically rewarding (i.e., they activate the brain's "reward pathways", and are therefore perceived as being something positive or desirable.
- Addictions can include, but are not limited to, exercise addiction, food addiction, drug addiction, computer addiction, sex addiction and gambling addiction.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction

- Denial

1. (Avoidance) Skating Off The Walls: I know I'm using denial when I refuse to directly answer a question and keep trying to change the subject.
2. (Absolute Denial) Saying It Isn't So: I know I'm using denial when I tell people that I don’t have a problem even though I know deep inside that I do.
3. (Minimizing) Saying It Isn’t That Bad: I know I'm using denial when I admit that I have a problem, but try to tell people that it isn't as bad as they think it is.
4. (Rationalizing) Giving Good Reasons: I know I'm using denial when I try to convince people that there are good reasons for me to have the problem and that because there are good reasons I shouldn't be responsible for having to deal with it.

http://www.tgorski.com/clin_mod/dmc/denial_checklist.htm

Guys lay off msattler. If he wants to continue as is then so be it.
What he has is working well (proven by the 928,000+ RAC here not including his seti RAC) even if it isn't as efficient as it could be. Some people (me included) don't like to upgrade when the current hardware is working just fine and producing good results.

Just because there are more efficient vehicles out there did you all run out and buy Prius (or equivalent) cars? I bet not. Older less fuel efficient vehicles are still used all over the world. Whats the difference?

But for a taxi driver with 100+ km/year the fuel costs amount to a large sum, and a significant portion of the overall cost to run that car. If there's a new vehicle which could cut those costs and quickly pay for the investment through those savings, woudln't this be a smart move? Especially if our "taxi driver" is working on paying pack some debt? It would help him to pay back earlier, or to do whatever else he wants to spend money on. Saying "but the old car still works well" is not helping at all, if things could otherwise be significantly better.

MrS

People have made suggestions. Msattler doesn't want to do them at the moment. I think we should leave it at that. Personally I feel he deserves a big thanks for supporting science projects. How he decides to do it is his business. If others want to do it differently that's their business. There are many bigger issues in the world to worry about without nitpicking this little one. Let's thank everyone for their contribution to science, and move on.