Survey Samples Computer Energy-Use Behaviors

Irvine, Ca, May 24th, 2013 -- Knowledge is power. For researchers at the California Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug) at Calit2, knowledge can save power, too.

That’s why the center is about to launch a large-scale online survey at UC Irvine. Researchers are hoping to learn more about the behaviors of the UC Irvine community when it comes to managing their computers’ energy usage. 

What kinds of computers do they use at home and at work – laptops, desktops, tablets? Do they change the manufacturers’ settings for power management? Do they put the machines into a sleep mode after a certain length of time? Do they turn computers off when they’re not in use or do they need to leave them on?

The online survey, which will take about 30 minutes to complete, will be sent within the next couple of days to a sampling of the university family – faculty, staff, students and retirees with uci.edu email addresses. Approximately 7,200 of the nearly 44,000 eligible addresses will be randomly selected.

Stuart Ross, Calit2’s assistant director for research development, oversees the CalPlug survey team. Ross says the goal is not to estimate the amount of energy used by the computers but rather to gain a better understanding of users’ behaviors around their computers’ energy management systems.
 
“The data we gather will indicate what percentage of people turn off their computers at night or when they’re away for several hours. What percentage adjust their computers’ power management settings? Are there different behaviors characteristic of different groups of people?

“The data we gather will indicate what percentage of people turn off their computers at night or when they’re away for several hours. What percentage adjust their computers’ power management settings? Are there different behaviors characteristic of different groups of people?
 
“We may find that college students are much more energy-conscious with their computers than retirees are. Or, we may find the opposite. That kind of knowledge could help with public education efforts later on.”

Joy Pixley is the team’s survey manager and chief number cruncher. “This is a vanguard study,” she says. “We’re establishing new ways to ask these questions because they haven’t been asked in these contexts before.” 

The goal, according to Pixley, is to begin to predict different kinds of behaviors in a way that might benefit energy regulators, device manufacturers and educators. “There are no right or wrong answers,” she says. “We're just trying to understand user behaviors so that future energy discussions can be more realistic.”

The survey will include questions about users’ desktop and laptop computers, both at work and at home. All responses will be kept confidential and results will be aggregated by groups. When a respondent completes and submits the survey, he or she immediately will receive a $5 Amazon gift certificate as a thank you.
 
The CalPlug team expects to release preliminary data later this summer and will publish a more detailed analysis by early next year.

“There are few solid hypotheses about these behaviors,” says Ross.  “We will gather a wide range of information and see what statistically significant patterns emerge.”