4 ms·

That is almost 630 watts per person (250 million people, 24*365 hours per year)... That seems like a lot... As a north european techie spending power on quite

That is almost 630 watts per person (250 million people, 24*365 hours per year)... That seems like a lot... As a north european techie spending power on quite a few always on things (respberry pis, a nas, a router, wifi, ps5 etc)- but also freezer, fridge, cooking - and lightning for half the year and a little extra heating, I have used around 2500 kWh year to date, which is roughly 320 watts in total (or half that stated figure for always on devices alone...) EDIT: I remembered the american population size wrong, the right figure is 475 watts @330 Mln people, but my point stands..

prohobo 5y ago
I would say less technically savvy people probably use more electricity, not less. And you're assuming that you're the average American consumer. There are probably old toasters and electrical heaters that contribute significantly to that figure. In any case, the conservative estimate is still several times that of Bitcoin's usage. I'd also say cruise ships are more egregious, which no one seems to care about despite them definitely not using clean energy or being remotely useful, using 2.5x the amount of energy as Bitcoin - or as much as Spain!
- svennek 5y ago
  I am sure as hell not letting my toaster run 24/7, is that a common 'murican thing? (joking). I did not question that Americans use a lot of power (my power budget is also just half of the average Dane as most of my heating is by steam made by the electricity plants (and paid on it's own) and all pumps regarding water (fresh and dirty) is paid by my building coop and not me personally. But for any reasonable comparison it needs to be "non-critical 24/7 devices" such as routers, nas'es, computers etc and not infrastructure needed for survival.. Also there is a lot of regulation in the EU about standby power (and also in California, if I am not mistaken)? Didn't I see some tech news about that 2 months ago or so? Comparing electric heating with bitcoin is a bit weird - heating is a necessity in a lot of the world (including where I live) for most of the year. Bitcoin is not and will never be a survival necessity in the original sense of the word.. Also, there is a lot of focus on ship emissions as people all around the world have noticed the problem, the latest regulation change was in 2020 - not for cruise ships but for all ships...

prohobo 5y ago

I would say less technically savvy people probably use more electricity, not less. And you're assuming that you're the average American consumer. There are probably old toasters and electrical heaters that contribute significantly to that figure. In any case, the conservative estimate is still several times that of Bitcoin's usage. I'd also say cruise ships are more egregious, which no one seems to care about despite them definitely not using clean energy or being remotely useful, using 2.5x the amount of energy as Bitcoin - or as much as Spain!

svennek 5y ago
I am sure as hell not letting my toaster run 24/7, is that a common 'murican thing? (joking). I did not question that Americans use a lot of power (my power budget is also just half of the average Dane as most of my heating is by steam made by the electricity plants (and paid on it's own) and all pumps regarding water (fresh and dirty) is paid by my building coop and not me personally. But for any reasonable comparison it needs to be "non-critical 24/7 devices" such as routers, nas'es, computers etc and not infrastructure needed for survival.. Also there is a lot of regulation in the EU about standby power (and also in California, if I am not mistaken)? Didn't I see some tech news about that 2 months ago or so? Comparing electric heating with bitcoin is a bit weird - heating is a necessity in a lot of the world (including where I live) for most of the year. Bitcoin is not and will never be a survival necessity in the original sense of the word.. Also, there is a lot of focus on ship emissions as people all around the world have noticed the problem, the latest regulation change was in 2020 - not for cruise ships but for all ships...