Motivate Yourself to Reduce Power Use with LocalCooling

Windows only: LocalCooling isn’t the only energy-use monitor out there, but it does give you real incentive, and real numbers, to help cut down your computer’s power use for both the environment and your monthly bills. While consolidating most of the features offered in Windows’ power use control panels is helpful, LocalCooling also offers estimates as to how many watts your various components (monitor, graphics card, hard drive, etc.) are using, and how much you could save—in kilowatt hours, trees, and gallons of oil—by pulling them back a bit. LocalCooling also lets individuals and groups create accounts at its web site to track energy savings over time and, well, compete with others, of course. LocalCooling is a free download for Windows XP and Vista systems. Feel free to also check out our Top 10 Computing Energy Savers, no download required.