Ever leave your PC on?

[dollarsaign]

Do any of you ever leave your PC on? or the monitor ON?

I was wondering if it spikes up the energy bill. I really can't tell cause i just pay but I am starting to wonder.

[sweeps]

I don't leave my PCs on. It wastes energy and needlessly reduces the life of the PC.

If you're running services on the PC (like a web site), obviously you'll need to leave it on, but at least turn off the monitor -- that's usually the bigger energy hog of the two.

[Broken Arrow]

I don't.

[dollarsaign]

Yeah well i think i;ve had my PC on for months. and maybe the monitor for weeks. But I think i will power OFF the monitor

[PennyPrincess]

I have been told by my (very few) frugal friends, that powering down your computer at night does in fact save on the electric bill.
However, I cannot get the techies (sp?) in my house to power down at night. Apparently the start up wait is SUCH a hassle (rolls eyes)

[jc3900]

I do, but its for a very strange reason. On my computer, I have only access to a user account because a normal adminstrator account doesn't allow certain parental controls. Basically every time the computer turns on, I need the administrator password to run my internet filter because it is an administrator program. If I can't provide the administrator password, then the filter won't run and hence the internet is unavailable. I can't know the administrator password because that would give me access to change parental controls in vista. The administrator password is kept by my girl friend, so if the computer powers down after my girl friend has typed the password in, I can't go on the internet until she returns. So basically, I blame porn for the extra power cost!

[Broken Arrow]

However, I cannot get the techies (sp?) in my house to power down at night. Apparently the start up wait is SUCH a hassle (rolls eyes)

That doesn't make any sense to me.... Not you of course, but for a techie to feel that way.

JC, you have a strange setup. May I suggest Linux?

[jc3900]

JC, you have a strange setup. May I suggest Linux?

Yes, it is a strange setup indeed. But it is all for a good cause(no access to porn) so I don't mind it very much. Basically, filters were very easy for my to bypass, so I finally decided to use my prowess to bypass filters to devise a way to completely keep me from accessing porn from my pc. I just have to make sure that I don't turn off the pc or I have no access to the internet for atleast a day or two.

[project15]

Yes, it is a strange setup indeed. But it is all for a good cause(no access to porn) so I don't mind it very much. Basically, filters were very easy for my to bypass, so I finally decided to use my prowess to bypass filters to devise a way to completely keep me from accessing porn from my pc. I just have to make sure that I don't turn off the pc or I have no access to the internet for atleast a day or two.

good for you!

As to saving the life of the pc as a reason to turn it off, its actually a highly debated topic as turning the pc on for a cold boot causes stress on the hardware as well. With todays long hardware life but short shelf life, chances are your pc would be outdated long before the major components fail due to keeping it running or turning it on from a cold boot.

Ive heard that leaving it on overnight for a month costs about $2.50 per month

[cptacek]

I turn off the computer, printer, monitor when I am done, and if I remember, pull the plug on the router as well. Those pretty blinking green lights cost electricity too! I also have been turning off the power strip to the TV/cable/etc. My highest electric bill was $89 in September (from August's air conditioning), and I got that all the way down to $17.63 in December.

[PrincessPerky]

Can I ask those who feel a computer uses no real electricity to turn it off for a minute..then listen...the sound of silence, do you really think all that racket your computer is making is free? Do this with the TV and radio and dishwasher and dryer off (and kids out) of course..those others do make more noise.

Ask your techie to check the core temperature and explain to you just how the computer keeps from overheating (a fan plus heat sink at least-heat sink is free, fan is not) and while we are on the subject, just how does that core get hot anyway? electricity folks. the kind you pay to pipe in to the house.

And if your Techie has a fancy led lighted case, or any other 'cool' add ons trust me, he/she is running more electricity than needed.

Not that I plan on disconnecting the green light from my case It looks cool

IMO you own the house you pay the electric bill, either charge a fee for leaving it on over night or turn it off yourself (no tech geek wants mom/wife/GF to turn their computer off by just pushing the power button and holding for a count of 10...do it once they will NEVER leave it on for you to fix again!)

Oh and for the start up time if they can't fill it then assign a chore..one that takes about 2 minutes (empty dishwasher) I usually switch laundry or fetch my water in that time. I can guarantee if someone offered to find me work to do in that time I would stop complaining about it .

JC your solution works for your addiction, the electric cost is a small price to pay to work on getting better.

[kork13]

PennyPrincess, for dealing with the techies in your house, I would just have them adjust the power properties for the computer such that when the system is unused for 1 or 2 hours (however long is appropriate for you), it will automatically turn off the monitor, turn off the hard disk, or totally shut down (you can normally adjust all of these options separately). It would still cause it to stay on for a little while after they finish, but it'll at least catch those hours in the middle of the night that nobody's even around it, and thus save at least some of the power consumption.

[MonkeyMama]

We tend to leave one computer on all day, because we use it often (short spurts). Much better than turning it on/off ten times a day.

That one, we turn the monitor off though when not in use. & we do turn it off at night or if we know we won't use it for a long period of time.

We have experimented and it really doesn't make a difference on our electric bill. The point being it is not on all that much more than it would be on anyway. (Obviously if we only used it 5 minutes a day and it was left on all day, that would make a difference).

As far as reducing the life of the PC? Not exactly a concern of mine (not sure we have ever had to replace a computer because we wore it out, and believe me we keep computers forever. Talking decades).

[Broken Arrow]

For everyday users, it may be easiest to just set the energy saver feature (such as monitor off after 1 hour and automatic power shut down in 2 hours). For me though, I don't use the power-save feature. If my computer has to stay on, it's staying on for a reason.

Instead, I have everything hooked up to a power strip that is controlled by a wall light switch. This includes my modem and router; two items that often gets overlooked and is left on all the time.

So, when I come home, I turn everything on with a flick of a switch. When I go to bed, I turn everything off. When I'm home and not planning to use it soon, I just put the computer on standby. Locks the computer and saves energy at the same time. Recovery is also much quicker than a cold boot.

Power saving also depends on what kind of hardware you have. If you have a fancy computer with a larger monitor, it will draw more power (sometimes as much as a microwave left running) than it will if you just have a small laptop or something similar.

Lastly, I don't really know what my power saving is. While power saving is nice, it's not actually the primary reason for my setup. You see, I'm a security freak....

[PennyPrincess]

Great ideas everyone, thanks, I do appreciate it. Every little bit helps!