According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of reducing
power use in a device capable of operating at two or more power levels
includes selecting a range of power management timer settings for a first
power management timer. The first power management timer is for switching
the device from a first power level to a second power level. In the
second power level portions of the device are de-energized. An estimated
energy value to complete a series of tasks is calculated for each of a
plurality of settings within the range of power management timer
settings. A power management timer setting is selected from the range of
power management timer settings based on the estimated energy value to
complete a series of tasks for each of the plurality of settings within
the range of settings.