Using Edison

Does Edison power down my computer?

Edison does not power down your computer at any time. Rather, Edison optimizes power efficiency by moving your computer to a suspend state when your computer is not in use. The difference in power savings between powering down and suspend is so small that most of the efficiency gains are realized with the suspend power state.

How do I set a schedule?

Go to the "Schedule" tab, where you can set the start time and end time of the period during which you typically use your computer. Once the times are set, select the days of the week that correspond to this schedule. Once set, these settings are saved.

How do I set my PC to be more energy efficient?

You can set the aggressiveness of energy savings for both "work time" and "non-work time" schedules by simply using the slider control. Sliding to the left will give you less savings, while sliding to the right will deliver more aggressive savings. You can also set custom settings if you have specific needs beyond what the slider can offer.

Verdiem recommends that you set your "non-work time" slider to the far right to "Save More" and your "work time" slider somewhere in the middle of the slider, to help you avoid unwanted power management interruptions.

How do I customize the cost of energy?

In the Estimated Annual Savings box, you will see a link to the cost of energy per kilowatt-hour (kWh). You can click on this price to change it. The national average per kWh rate is currently 8.9 cents. You can look up the local rate for your region online or by looking at your power bill. In order for your annual savings to be accurate, you must update this with the local cost of energy.

When I click the close button on the upper right of the application, why does it keep running on my system tray?

In order for Edison to properly manage power state transitions, a portion of the application must continue to run in the background. If you wish to close the application, right click on the system tray icon for Edison and click on the "Close this Program" selection.

Can entire companies use Edison to save energy?

The Edison license is a single-user license. Companies that are interested in using power management technologies such as Edison to save energy costs, should contact Verdiem to learn more:

By Phone:

Toll Free (866) VERDIEM (837-3436)

By Email:

• Media inquiries: jodiec@verdiem.com
• General inquiries: info@verdiem.com

What does the "Edison is generating..." message mean?

To provide you with the most accurate savings estimates possible, Edison periodically re-calculates your savings potential based on your power settings. This is typically a very quick process, but occasionally you may see this message as Edison connects to the Internet to gather the appropriate data. The estimated savings information will reappear shortly.

Will Edison work on a laptop?

Yes, Edison will manage the power settings on a laptop. However, Edison manages power on a laptop in a slightly different way than it does on a desktop because a laptop can use an electrical outlet or a battery as its power source. Edison applies your power settings only when the laptop is plugged in. When the laptop is running on battery power, Edison will always set the display to turn off after five minutes of idle time and set the computer to go to sleep after 15 minutes. This configuration is designed to maximize battery life while users are mobile.

TIP: If you use your laptop for presentations, make sure to plug it in to keep the screen from powering down after five minutes.

Does Edison know how many monitors a computer is using when it calculates the savings estimation?

Edison currently does not gather information specific to your monitor(s), although Verdiem is considering offering this feature in the future. Your savings estimation is based on a single, average power usage amount for one monitor; Edison’s calculations assume that one monitor is connected to your PC.

I share a computer with another user; can we each set our own power settings in Edison?

Edison is a global user application, which means that the settings in the application are applied to all users on a particular PC and cannot be adjusted to be user-specific. This is something to keep in mind as you set your schedule. If you share a computer with others who tend to use it at different times, set your schedule to account for the times the computer is generally in use for all users.

How do I stop Edison from launching every time I log in?

To stop Edison from launching during login, complete the following steps:

• In the Windows system tray (near the clock), right-click the Edison logo.
• Clear the Start at User login check box.

The next time you log in, Edison will not launch. To open the Edison window again, you will need to start it by choosing Start menu (Start-> Programs -> Verdiem -> Edison).

NOTE: Edison will still continue to manage power settings despite not launching after login.

I have installed Edison, but am getting a message saying Edison cannot connect to the server. I checked my firewall and anti-virus software, but I still get the message. What can I do?

Try restarting the Edison application. To restart Edison:

• In the Windows system tray (near the clock), right-click the Edison logo.
• Select Close this program.
• Restart Edison from the Windows Start menu (Start -> Programs -> Verdiem -> Edison).

How do I wake up my computer once it is sleeping?

You can wake your computer in any of the following ways:

• Tap the power button for no more than one second (holding down for longer will cause your PC to shutdown).
• Press any key on your keyboard.
• Click the mouse.

If you notice the mouse and keyboard do not wake the system, please follow the steps below to set them up and allow them to wake your computer.

Enabling the Keyboard
If you notice the mouse and keyboard do not wake the system, please follow the steps below to set them up and allow them to wake your computer.

• On the Windows Start menu, click Control Panel, and in the Control Panel, double-click Keyboard.
• In the Keyboard Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click the Properties button.
• Click the Power Management tab and make sure that Allow this device to wake the computer is selected.

If you do not have a Power Management tab, it is possible your device does not support waking from standby. You can see if a new driver is available or, to wake the computer, press the power button for one second.

Enabling the Mouse
If you do not have a Power Management tab, it is possible your device does not support waking from standby. You can see if a new driver is available or, to wake the computer, press the power button for one second.

• On the Windows Start menu, click Control Panel, and then double-click Mouse.
• In the Mouse Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click the Properties button.
• Click the Power Management tab and make sure that Allow this device to wake the computer is selected.

If you do not have a Power Management tab, it is possible your device does not support waking from standby. You can see if a new driver is available or, to wake the computer, press the power button for one second.

Edison does not appear to be working; my computer and monitor are not sleeping after the time I set has passed. What is wrong?

Edison uses the built-in Microsoft Windows power management functionality to put your PC and monitor to sleep. Windows monitors idle activity by a component called an idle timer. Once the idle timer deems the system idle for a specified number of minutes, Windows transitions the system into the lower power state.

Many applications and processes can reset the idle timer. Some common examples include search archiving, virus scans, backup processes, and interactive Web pages. When the idle timer is reset, it starts from zero and counts back up to the time you programmed, so if you set your computer to suspend after 10 minutes of idle activity, and the idle timer was reset at 9 minutes, it would be a minimum of 19 minutes before your system would sleep.

User activity always resets the idle timer, including any bump of a mouse or touch of the keyboard. Also, most media applications, when running, will prevent Windows from putting the PC and monitor to sleep. This happens even if they are not actively playing content.