Understanding Power Management

The goal of power management in Windows is to maximize energy efficiency. This is accomplished by minimizing the amount of power used while automatically providing required performance on demand. Power management is an increasingly important issue for businesses as a result of rising energy costs and energy consumption by today's desktop and mobile computers. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that PCs at home and in the workplace use about 2 percent of all electrical energy consumed. Leaving a PC on at home can add up to 8 percent to the total household power usage for the average home.

By contrast, putting a PC into Sleep mode for 14 hours a day can save between 600 and 760 kWh per year of electricity consumption. In 2009, this means savings of approximately $63,000 per year per 1,000 PCs for which this is done. The business and environmental importance of improving the power efficiency of PCs is compelling, and Microsoft has made numerous enhancements in this area in Windows 7.