[Chicago] Power for 1000

[Rob Kapteyn]

The conference in in Rosemont, just outside of Chicago.
I know a lot of conferences go to Rosemont just because there is much  
less bureaucratic hassle.
My experience is that those hotels are very accommodating.

Dallas had power strips for just about everybody.
We do want to make sure that the power strips provide some overload  
protection (almost all do).

I did some quick calculations (below).
We also need to make sure that the main conference room provides  
enough outlets.

The MAX rating on most laptop power bricks is 45 or 65 watts.
Assuming an average power utilization of 40 watts per laptop (not all  
will be charging):

          40 watts / 120 volts = 0.33 amps per laptop.

Normal outlets and power strips are rated for 15 amps before the  
breaker pops:

          15 amps / 0.33 amps per laptop =  45 laptops maximum per  
outlet or power strip.

For 1000, the hotel should provide at least

          1000 laptops / 45 laptops per outlet  == 23 outlets.

-Rob

On Mar 11, 2008, at 7:43 AM, David Beazley wrote:

> I just wanted to add my 0.02  on this powerstrip
> thread.   My brother works in audio-visual production
> and does a lot of conferences/tradeshows (including
> many at Chicago hotels and at McCormick).   Chicago is
> legendary for its unions as so far as I understand it,
> the union has to be involved with everything short of
> you speaking into a microphone.   Frankly, I don't
> think PyCon should get involved with that.   Also,
> unless you know something about the wiring, I don't
> think you can just go around plugging in several
> hundred power strips.   It might violate fire-code or
> any number of other laws (of which there are many).
>
> Also, I've been to big conferences such as USENIX and
> O'Reilly before---I don't EVER remember a conference
> of that size trying to provide power to 1000 people.
> That's what batteries are for.    The only place you
> might need power is in tutorials.
>
> -Dave
>
>
>
>
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