The garage w/ an exhaust fan to keep air moving is working for me so far...  Things run hot, but [knock on wood] nothing has failed lately; the weak ones have already dropped and it's the stong boxes that have survived. 

bowlinra

Uncle! I'd long heard the rumor, but now I understand. 

So the May/June bill came in at $432 , the single largest electric bill I've gotten EVER. So I was like, hmmm, that interesting, I better do something about that. So I put the power meter on the boxes and everything seems to be within spec. My in-laws came to visit and said the basement seems warm and that AC is running all the time.. Another Oh boy moment.

Then today the June / July bill came at $512 , Holy Snikey!!! and then I looked again !

I'm having a really hard time looking my wife in the eye and explaining how I have NO IDEA why the electric bill is so expensive . Just kidding, but I think I'm done with GPU folding for the summer.

On the positive side, I may have been inspirited to start another guide: "How to make a homemade rack and folding servers in the garage without driving the AC bill thru the roof." Thoughts?

 
just cut back and look at alternatives - we understand - some users like myself will pick up some of it
 
just the thought of going off the grid with your own solar cells might be it
just hold back folding for a few month in the summer - if that saves a few hundred each month - put it into solar cells
 
just to show you what Im paying is nothing... my city utilities
my entire utility bill(water,gas,electric, city services) +phone.co($50+) +cable.co($100+) is less than $450
(but that doesn't include this last month where Im using AC to battle the heat)
 
I also going green savings...low wattage with green lighting( CFL or LED) & appliances to offset any increases.
I also walk a lot in the dark pitch black basement(ow!!!) -...ie get some led night lights
 
Im also looking at Solar/wind too
 
I can really understand the predicament  USA folks have and your high bills (low energy production country)
Canada exports a lot of power and energy to the US and you pay premium for it because you don't produce enough or conserve enough (old technology - factories... equipment)
 
1.USA needs an energy plan.
2. your country need to conserve (insulate homes & buildings,get rid of stuff that is old and wastes energy. You just can't afford it as a country anymore. it's part of what is responsible for your decline. 
Oil will only last  a few more years 1 generation maybe 2(maybe 50 yrs max)...and will get more expensive
so you have to find other sources
 
coal Is not it either - too polluting...what you want to do??... (are we that dumb to kill ourselves with pollution?)
the solution is "NOT" FOSSIL-FUEL...even clean coal is dirty - it's just cleaner than before
 
what is left is wind, solar, hydro, and geo-thermal
there is enough solar energy to run the planet several times over if we tap it
there is enough roof space on most modern homes to produce more than enough to run a household..should have surplus too
 
same can be said about geothermal (the planet is a big molten core) tap the energy from the planet for heaven sakes
you could also heat/cool homes using geo-thermal for a 10th of the cost
 
you have big barren deserts/salt lakes - use them for energy production
 
if you can get energy costs under control food prices, transportation costs will come down.
factories become more profitable and production goes up
 
 
3. we need to conserve green/bio-habitats - forests
we can not keep on taking up more space and assume the planet will clean up the air or water - as we take plants away
(the only way it gets cleaned)
we need to build more densely populated areas and give up on having family homes...ie urban sprawl
again are we that dumb to use up all land for homes/buildings and none for food/plants
remember it is a finite (we can''t grow a bigger planet or more land).
and as population grows we need more land for food production not less
 
PS: Id didn't intend to make this a speech about the US or some energy policy
just that the USA has to start considering whats best for it's country rather than short term goals
I really hope you guys get it together and move from the 20th century to the 21st...
(infrastructure!!!.. baby)
 
Canada needs a good trading partner - we hate to see you guys slipping 

folding and summer heat do not get along much..   I was out of town and turned down my AC and cranked my main PC to get some folding done while I was away..   Im back down to my one 24/7 box and plan on keeping it that way till mid fall.  granted I'll toss in some love now and again..  just waiting for the next power bill to see where I'm at.  
 
Fold on!

Better to adjust your cost and live for another Folding day than run your budget in the ground.  Many people have to adjust Folding during the summer, especially with GPUs.  They suck a lot of power and kick out a lot of heat when Folding.  Some of the WUs we get don't help that problem either and push the GPUs too much IMO.
 
I really like that Infinia Power Dish solar solution.  Wonder what one of those pups cost?  Some of the solar solutions I've priced would finally reach ROI after I was old enough for the "dirt nap".    A cost effective solar solution is the kind of thing we all could use so we could really unleash holy-hell on Folding!   

mflanaga
One of the reasons I went 4P was so I could get rid of the GPU's. My electric costs are down and PPD is up!!
As you know already bowlinra, those opterons run nice and cool with a great PPD/watt ratio.

MN, your reply has me thinking about what I'm running at home too.  If a 4P could replace a couple of my rigs and use less electricity, I might want to look harder at that solution.  I know that I'd have to factor the upfront cost and then mitigate it by selling off the rigs, electricity savings, etc.  So, could you share your at the wall wattage on your 4P rig(s)?  With that number I could calculate my costs and how much it might save over time to restructure my Folding environment.

 
more than enough to run a house and AC
http://completesolar.com/

Thanks MN...looking forward to it.  Yes those Kill-A-Watt devices are pretty handy to have and can be used for more than just PC measurements.  It's pretty revealing to see what various things around the home command in wattage.  I got mine from NewEgg, but have heard that the Depot carries them too.

texinga

Thanks MN...looking forward to it.  Yes those Kill-A-Watt devices are pretty handy to have and can be used for more than just PC measurements.  It's pretty revealing to see what various things around the home command in wattage.  I got mine from NewEgg, but have heard that the Depot carries them too.

Just like to point out that I'm only running 6128's @ 2.53GHz, (8 cores each, not 12), so you might end up with a higher watt usage if you get  dodecas. Of course, how much all depends on your overclock.

bobc36
The Summer heat was also a factor in my decision to go 4p. I would be running all of my GPUs blasting, and I wasnt even making  1/3rd of the point but producing 10X the heat and using more than triple the electricity. My wall wattage is in the neighborhood of 460W (non Oc'd) with the 4P. 

What processors are you running on your 4P and are they at stock clocks?  I just measured my 980X (4Ghz) and 2600K (4Ghz) and each has a single GPU (570 and a 580).  When both of those rigs are Folding SMP and GPU, the total wattage is 916W not to mention the added room heat that comes from the GPU Folding.  While welcome in Winter, not at all desirable in Summer (as we all know).
 
I'd be OK with just running a 4P rig at stock clocks.  I love to overclock Intel CPUs, but it would not be a large a priority for me with 32, 48 or 64 threads that could run on a single AMD 4P rig.

would you please do that, i would be very grateful, because I am going to build a p4 and dump gpu's for good. 
 

mflanaga

texinga

mflanaga
One of the reasons I went 4P was so I could get rid of the GPU's. My electric costs are down and PPD is up!!
As you know already bowlinra, those opterons run nice and cool with a great PPD/watt ratio.

MN, your reply has me thinking about what I'm running at home too.  If a 4P could replace a couple of my rigs and use less electricity, I might want to look harder at that solution.  I know that I'd have to factor the upfront cost and then mitigate it by selling off the rigs, electricity savings, etc.  So, could you share your at the wall wattage on your 4P rig(s)?  With that number I could calculate my costs and how much it might save over time to restructure my Folding environment.

I did exactly what you are thinking. I sold two i7 rigs with one 450 in each of them to offset most of the cost of the 4p. I kinda got lucky in that regard as I got a call from someone I know who was in the market for a couple of new (or in this case "refurbished") machines just after I bought the supermicro board. Still have some GTX 275's and a 470 left , but no rig to put them in. Might put them in as contest prizes.
Anyway, getting back on track here... i'd be happy to give you the at the wall wattage but I don't have a meter! Gotta get one of those things. I think I actually will get one this weekend when I head to Home Depot. When I get it, I'll post the results for you.

bobc36
I am running 6174s at stock clocks only because I havent found the time to sit down and overclock them. 

The 4P replaced my i7 920, a x3440 (p55 ~ i7 860), 2 gtx 260s, 1 gtx 295, and a gtx 560 (non ti). That one room in my house had a fan pulling hot air out of it to heat the rest of the house. Now come winter time, I might run some GPUs to give me some extra heat, but we'll see. 

Thanks Bobc!!  Using your figure of ~460w for the 4P rig, I could get an ROI in about 7mos by replacing the 980X and 2600K rigs (using my electrical costs to run them).  That is using just the raw cost of electricity to run the rigs.  However, the results could be a bit better when you factor-in that I'm producing less heat that has been causing my AC having to run a bit harder.  If I sold those rigs, then the ROI comes down very fast as in what Mflanaga experienced.  This is getting very tempting indeed...
 
Hope I haven't hijacked your thread Bowlinra and maybe your post can help some of us "turn lemons into lemonade". 

I'd love to sell both rigs for a 4 p rig but I haven't researched the cost in a while and I'm not sure if I can sell the two rigs for enough to cover the cost.

My GPU's are sitting idle right now waiting for the winter.

z3r0t0l0rence
I feel your pain.  Our electric started climbing back in May.  July and August are a pna!  With no folding/crunching my electic bill was $200 alone.  Our electric rates here in AZ might be going up a additional $7.14 come November.  By then though most of the costs should be down to normal rates that I can start folding/crunching again.

I was $200 over my bill last year with 2 smaller boxes folding. I've certainly upgrade a bunch since this time last year adding 2x GTX 580, GTX 460, 3x GTS 450, i7 920, AMD 4P and AMD 2P all inside my house.  I think the AC was just running overtime to keep up with all the folding this year, fortunately I didn't burn up my $8K house AC unit (knock on wood).
 
So I've shutdown the GPU folding until likely September, I've moved the AMD servers to the garage (I plan to create a separate thread on the home rack project) and just SMP on the remain PC. Hopefully that will cut the July / August bill to roughly normal.

cudenver
so when all is said and done, 
what would you compare your 4p system to. 
maybe like 2 i7rigs each with a gtx 480, just trying to get an idea. 
thanks 

I'm glad you asked. Just update the information here.
http://forums.evga.com/fb.ashx?m=1638130
 

tank1023

I'd love to sell both rigs for a 4 p rig but I haven't researched the cost in a while and I'm not sure if I can sell the two rigs for enough to cover the cost.

My GPU's are sitting idle right now waiting for the winter.

well, as soon as you stop putting fuel in that yacht of yours you'll be able to affor a 4p rig!!
...and there's plenty of opteron cpu deals floating around out there. The only thing you can't get away cheap with is the board and memory. You can use any old hard drive and a moderate PSU and you do not need a case so long as it won't be a hazard for anyone in your home.
 
Enjoy the boat big guy