Local Cooling

Local Cooling is a practical tool that intends to help you protect the environment by optimizing the computer electric consumption. It estimates the power consumed by the main computer components and allows you to change the power saving parameters.
The application runs in the system tray and permanently monitors the computer usage in order to turn off certain components. You can quickly optimize the power usage by selecting one of the saving profiles available in the Settings window.
Each profile changes the time interval for turning off the monitor, the hard disk or the computer. If you are not satisfied with the default settings, you are able to adjust the time interval according to your needs.
You have the option to choose between shutting down and hibernating your computer in order to reduce the power consumption. The app enables you to prevent the shutdown if a certain program is running which is a practical feature if you are performing long operations that do not require your interaction.
In the Settings window you can access a short report about the important power consuming components such as the monitor, CPU or graphics card. These are automatically detected by the program which provides you with an estimate for each component.
In our tests, the app correctly identified the components but failed to detect the monitor size and type. However, it turned off the monitor and the other components in the time interval specified in the power saving plan.
The main window of Local Cooling displays the effects of the application by specifying the number of saved trees by applying one of the defined profiles. Although the calculation might be a little off due to the monitor detection issue, you should use this tool for reducing your impact on the environment.