The main issue is electricity costs followed by sleep. There is no time for gaming during the day because of a levels so I am gaming / using Netflix until 11or12 (not even that late). Then when I go to bed I have my pc folding and downloading.
I'd suggest that folding for 20 minutes uses more electricity than leaving your PC downloading all night. Do your parents know you fold? If they do then just cut back on the folding and use that as leverage, if not then you really ought to tell them, it's no wonder they are wary of electricity costs if their consumption has gone up by half a kilowatt an hour and they can't work out why.
They know it is folding, I used to do it 24/7 and have reduced to about 8 hours after their inital shock at the bill.
WAY OT!: I guess I grew up in the wrong area/family/environment - I've just noticed your PC specs - WTF! I was working full-time in central london @ 17 years old and it still took me a while to save up for my dream machine with a 9800 pro in it! As regards to the topic. Give up, you'll be 18 soon.
Worked for the whole of last summer including 2 weeks at an IT firm who donated some parts as they were unable to put me on a payroll. I guess there is no way round it, only a few more months to wait
