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I want to put my computer to something like sleep mode, but Firefox needs to keep working. I need to leave my pc on sometimes overnight or longer, and when it's on 24/7 like that it uses too much power just for a simple task that it does in that time.

When i do this, firefox occasionally loads websites to check for some information, and thats all it does in that time. Can this work in "sleep mode", or can you adjust sleep mode to work in it, or, can can I in another way use less power during this? I don't need the keyboard, mouse, headphones or the monitor to be on/working during this, only Firefox and websites.

Denis Delinger
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  • It sounds like you want to build a low power system instead of trying to do something that isn't possible. – Ramhound Apr 06 '17 at 15:19
  • What is Firefox doing- could it be done on another, low power machine? Are the displays set to turn themselves off? – bertieb Apr 06 '17 at 15:19
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    Would work great on a Raspberry Pi or similar... – ivanivan Apr 06 '17 at 15:31
  • @Ramhound, it isn't impossible, for example if i unplug a device or turn off the monitor, it will save power, i just wanna see how i can save more power. – Denis Delinger Apr 06 '17 at 15:34
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    If you unplug which device? If you unplug the computer, the computer will be off, and Firefox won't be running. The monitor can be turned off automatically using its built-in power saving modes. Your question is confusing, you require 24/7 computions, that requires your system to be in a S0 state. – Ramhound Apr 06 '17 at 15:36
  • @bertieb, this is the only one, and again i just wanna reduce power usage since it just does that. – Denis Delinger Apr 06 '17 at 15:37
  • @Ramhound im trying to save power, im just looking for other things that could help other than other usb devices or the monitor. – Denis Delinger Apr 06 '17 at 15:39
  • Your not going to save any measureable amounts of power by unplugging USB devices. – Ramhound Apr 06 '17 at 15:41
  • Yeh, thats why im looking for more ways. But it does add up with everything turned off. – Denis Delinger Apr 06 '17 at 15:46
  • “When i do this, firefox occasionally loads websites to check for some information, and thats all it does in that time.” - meaning? Are you looking at it? Does it need to be visible on a screen? You need to describe in a lot more detail what exactly the PC is supposed to do. – Daniel B Apr 06 '17 at 19:11
  • This might be a good job for a Raspberry Pi. – Charles Burge Apr 06 '17 at 20:17
  • Suggestion : Get a P3 Kill-A-Watt . Run it for a while, determining your average usage. Then start applying the answers below to determine your savings. – MountainMan Apr 07 '17 at 01:01
  • Daniel B, just needs to be able to load a website without using so much power, doesnt need to be visible – Denis Delinger Apr 07 '17 at 06:19

3 Answers3

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I've done the thing you're asking.

You need to create a new powerscheme and put everything on low etc, including turning off the screen. I did this to mine bitcoins on a laptop when I closed the lid and resume normally when I opened the lid. The system went from 120 Watt usage to 15 watt usage, or something similar.

You don't mention what OS you are using, so I will assume Windows 10 here.

Right-click the start menu and select Power Options

On the left, click Create a power plan

Select Power saver and name your new plan something like Ultra low energy

Set Turn off the display to 1 minute, and put the pc to sleep, to never.

Then press Create

Next, click Change plan settings on the right of your new powerplan.

Click on Change advanced power settings Set everything relevant to as low as possible, but the most important settings is the following one (it will have significant impact on power reserve and system performance)

Unvold Processor Power management Set the following: - Minimum Processor State: 0% - Maximum Processor State: 5% (you can set this to 1%) but if your system is not that fast, it may crash. 5% is a safe setting that will already safe lots of power.

If your computer uses wireless, You will want to change it to maximum power savings, though using a lan cable and disablign wireless will of course be more effective.

With this new power scheme in place, the laptop will work really slow, but it will also not consume much power.

Want your system back to speed, change the powerscheme.

There are programs to change between powerschemes and it is possible to use powercfg commandline options to switch different schemes.

With the powercfg commandline option, it is even possible to use Scheduled Tasks to make the computer go into extreme power savings mode at 23:00 and get back to normal operations at 7:00.

LPChip
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You ask a complex question without providing enough information (OS, purpose, hardware particulars) to provide an accurate answer.

There is most likely no single thing you can do to fix the problem - it is a matter of finding what draws the most power and reducing - repeat until satisfied or out of options.

Some easy wins include:

  • reducing the maximum clock speed for your CPU.
  • Move your browser profile to RAM and spin down hard drives.
  • Kill all unnecessary programs
  • Use a wired connection and turn off wifi
  • Change to a lighter weight OS (Android or Linux)
  • Change to a lighter weight browser
  • Disable playing of media in browser, disable flash, JavaScript, as much as practical
  • Disable advertising
davidgo
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For Firefox, try Flashblock. Flash items will not load until you load it which makes page load significantly faster, or you could simply disable Flash permanently.

In your BIOS settings, change ACPI Suspend Type to S1(STR). According to statistics, if you're system is sleeping for 16 hours a day, you'll save approximately 72 pounds a year.

Make sure you also disable Power on by External Modems, but also saving a little bit more power.

Cut voltage and clockspeed in your CPU Configuration menu.

Benjamin Kljuno
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  • s1: shuts everything off except for cpu, ram, hdd and the mobo, but keeps a low level of power to these devices to maintain sys info. s2: ram is powered, cpu is powered but not running, sys info written to ram. s3(suspend to ram-STR): shuts off everything except ram, writing all sys info to ram. – arthur kay Apr 06 '17 at 15:28
  • Please read the question again carefully. Your answer does not answer the original question. Hint: no software can work in sleep mode. – DavidPostill Apr 06 '17 at 15:56
  • @DavidPostill Sorry, I've misunderstood question. – Benjamin Kljuno Apr 06 '17 at 16:00