Green Daily

Odds are you know how to configure your computer to shut off the monitor or enter sleep mode if you haven't touched a key in a while. So you don't really need another program to let you configure your power saving options, even if it is a free utility. But LocalCooling might be worth checking out anyway, because not only does it display one-click power savings options, it also gives you a good idea of exactly how much electricity your computer is using in the first place.

LocalCooling does this by evaluating your computer hardware and providing an estimate of how many watts each component, including the monitor, hard drives, CPU, and graphics card are using. Once LocalCooling knows how much energy your PC uses, it can also keep track of how much energy you're saving by turning off your computer, or at least your monitor when you're not using it.

Users can also create an account to track your energy savings against other users online if you want to get all competitive about it.

[via gHacks]