By using as many dark colors on our standard monitors as possible we can reduce energy consumption by 20%, and while this may not be noticeable for a single user it can really add up when dealing with numerous computer terminals. According to Stephen at Stephen’s Lighthouse:
“White and bright colors (especially in backgrounds) can use up to 20% more power than black or dark colors. Unfortunately, e-mail and word processors tend to use white backgrounds, so your workstation uses considerable power while you are in these programs, which you are during much of the day. Because black-on-white is the most familiar (it’s just like the newspaper), selecting alternate combinations may not be appealing. However, you can change your desktop background to something efficient. You can change your background by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, and Appearance tab. The ‘Item’ field should say ‘Desktop’. Under color, select one of the colors at the right that has a rating below 65W and then click ‘OK.'”
So I have made some simple dark wallpapers using a retro wood theme that may reduce your energy footprint. There are fullscreen, widescreen and iphone sizes – and each has a version with the EcoStatement and one without. There are also some darker versions that are black and white. Enjoy.
Much obliged. But I may be the premier Blackle user on the planet, so I’m going to use that as an excuse to keep my Mario Chalmers wallpaper. Design looks nasty though.
This will only provide power consumption savings on CRT tubed monitors. The newer LCD (flat screen) monitors do not have a correlation between brightness and power consumption. However, on laptops using a back-lit LED-type screen, power consumption directly relates to the brightness of the back lighting. If you want your laptop battery to make it through a n extra few cups of java at the local coffee shop (or an extra long meeting – heaven forbid!) then simply reduce yoru screen brightness. For the google fans (on old CRT monitors you can use Blackle