Thinking of getting a used Mac Mini to replace a Dell server that I have to have running 24×7 but doesn’t do an awful lot of work (web based database server for a client).
I think I can save about £16/month in electricity by running the Mini, but I could do with an accurate power consumption (I’m working on an assumption of about 30w for the Mini and 200w for the Dell).

Monitoring the Mac Mini’s power usage using a Kill-A-Watt power meter, we saw the readout fluctuate between 7 and 8 watts when the system was sitting at idle. When running our CPU-intensive Cinebench test, the power consumption was pegged at 26 or 27 watts.

From here

Cheers Woody. Going to measure the Poweredge consumption later and see if it will make sense to change.

How much money will the Mac mini cost? Surely it’ll take a canny bit of electric to cover the cost of the Mac to start with?

Aye, the mini will be pricey. Aspire Revo or similar?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/236579

Poweredges are notoriously power hungry.

Perhaps look at getting an ultra low-power mini ITX?