LocalCooling

Pros

• Designed for climate control advocates
• Displays key energy optimization settings
• Tracks power ratings in an interesting format
• Works quietly in the background

Cons

• The unit system of measurement cannot be changed

Designed solely to function as a power optimization utility, Local cooling does its job very well. The little program measures a computer's power output, tunes the energy hungry components within a laptop or desktop, then reports back with a savings statement. The cool little tool even uses an innovative energy savings panel, so users can see their savings translated into a more environmentally relatable form. That's a feature that's sure to please dedicated climate warriors.

Local Cooling is essentially a smart electricity optimization tool. It accomplishes its energy shrinking mission by applying an intelligent output cutting plan to the computer it's been installed upon. So, an active monitor can be set to turn off after a set amount of time. The same can be said of a disk drive or a computer hibernation mode. Sure, such plans are already installed by default on Windows machines. Their operating systems have inbuilt energy optimization settings set to activate as soon as a computer starts. Local Cooling simply takes this feature a little further. Its compact display panel reveals existing power plans so users can see where they stand. At this point, they can fine tune the settings and apply a preset power savings mode or opt for a custom plan. By the way, this panel is available in the system tray, down on the right-hand corner of a Windows display. Click on the snowflake icon to call up the utility settings panel.

The other difference of note users will immediately spot when that panel pops up is the way the energy units are measured. The savings section of the tool GUI holds three numerical outputs. These are the Trees, Gallons, and Kw/h saved metrics. On the other side, there's a figure that tells a computer owner how badly they're doing by showing the unoptimized output. Below that number, a final pair of numbers show how much energy can be saved by switching to one of the selectable power mode plans. Check out the "You Save" number to see just how much energy can be won back when the program is active. There's something of a feeling of satisfaction here, especially for committed climate warriors. By knowing how much power is actually being spared, by seeing those savings as an easy-to-read number, otherwise ignorant humans might just realize how much they're doing for the environment.

Other settings within the tiny utility include editable monitor and hard disk controls, plus a smart hibernate setting that adds a clock, plus a "Never Shutdown If Program is running" conditional logic statement to the mix. A My Power tab also lists all of the primary power-hungry culprits so that a user can target the worst energy eating offenders in seconds.

Pros

• Designed for climate control advocates
• Displays key energy optimization settings
• Tracks power ratings in an interesting format
• Works quietly in the background

Cons

• The unit system of measurement cannot be changed