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Comment by MillionOClock | Hacker News Reader

> When plugged into the grid

Exactly! Apple for instance already does this with some ML tasks that only run when your device is plugged in, I think it's a great compromise.

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The grid, of course, is less sure about this compromise.

The grid can be negotiated with if we put in the infrastructure.

the power cord has to have a data link (USB? or just networking over power line itself) through which the power outlet can tell the computer how much does the energy cost at any given time. this is a very welcome but very expensive addition to the infrastructure.

Why would you put it in the cord? The phone/computer can handle this fine, and already has all the bits.

my wall outlet supplies power from 3 different sources: grid, solar on the roof and/or powerwall, depending on the weather, grid status (which sucks where I live) and time of day. computer only knows time of day off the bat, everything else it has to learn in a complex way. if I have a "cost" or, better, "status" information integrated into the power itself, smart appliances (like computer) can make decisions what they can or can not run. right now I can start training my models on my 4090 at night, we have an outage, and 4090 will happily drain the powerwall, so I'll not have an A/C in the morning. models can wait, they're stupid anyway, or at least I like the A/C better.

That would cost money and lower the profits of the people that own/control the grid. I sometimes wonder how much money these robber barons spend on lobbying and other PR campaigns to convince that climate change isn't a problem and that the grid is just fine. It's one of those unanswerable questions I'm sure, but how much progress could be made by redirecting that amount of money to actually improving the grid itself?

That was actually part of how I intended my "negotiated" to be taken. Part of it is a monetary negotiation where we invest more in base load and peak load, but some of it needs to be in the ability for the grid to request to shed load and the devices react accordingly.

Settings > Battery > Health and Charging already has a “selectively charge when green energy is available” setting.

Some thermostats prioritize low-usage times, too.

When I cook a roast in the oven it uses a couple of KWh. That should cover charging a Macbook for like, a month or two. I think we will be ok.

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