Abnormally high power usage

[SirConfused]

I'm not sure if anyone will be able to answer this as I haven't managed to find anything else on the topic so far but at this point I'd take educated guesses.

So over the last 2 months my power bill has gone nuts, from about £25/month to £60 which confused me because I haven't changed anything at all, especially nothing so severe that it would drain that much extra juice.

Through process of elimination I have narrowed it down to my server that's the cause. It's been running 24/7 with no problems for a few years but now when it's off with the psu still powered there's a bit of a whine.

The question is, could a dodgy PSU (or anything else for that matter) somehow cause the computer to draw an insane amount more power than it normally should do?

Thanks

 

[tbyeah]

It sounds like a reasonable guess? Can't think what else it would be.

If it's not a needed, essential server for work or something, try leaving it off and unplugged for a while and see if the bill goes down?

 

[SirConfused]

It was totally non-essential as it's a home server which serves personal stuff.

I switched it off and the daily usage dropped like a stone. I have no idea why it suddenly went up nuts after years of happy operation but I switched out the psu for a spare I had lying around and it's back to pulling 100-150W again.

I did have a look at the old psu once I got it out and there are a few caps that look bulging/blown but I can't imagine how that would cause it to draw such ludicrous amounts of power.

Oh well, problem solved anyway.