Leave computer on? Turn off for the night?

[KAZANI]

Originally posted by: xboxist
hehe... just what I expected:

Some people telling me to leave it on, some telling me to turn it off, and someone from a third world country badmouthing Americans while they turn off their Intel386 Wordpad server for the night.

Well, if you consider EU 3rd world then I guess you're right. Don't let my mentioning that power waste from unused appliances in EU equals my country's (Greece) total power consumption put you into perspective about the seriousness of the matter and disturb your yank energy nirvana. Have fun contributing to global warming!

 

[ForumMaster]

i never keep my computer on for more then a few days. i always turn of my LCD when i leave the computer even if it's for 15 minutes. my rig is also rather medicore by todays standards and consumes very little power. i don't use hibernation cause it still boots up fast enough and cause when i do restart, it's good for windows to reload the process every few days.

 

[mrfatboy]

I keep mine on 24/7.

I actually did a complete power analysis of my house once. I figured out exactly where my power and money were going. And yes, i do have a life

For my computer, here is what I figured out.

200watts/hr X 24 hours X 30 days X $.0015 kil0watt/hr = $21.66 month


My system pulls 200watts when in use and my electric company charges me $.0015 for a kilowatt hour.

If I turned it off at night I would get..

200watts/hr X 16 hours X 30 days X $.0015 kil0watt/hr = $14.40 month

A $7 savings a month. However, I use skype and I am always googling something. $7 is cheap.

 

[Eos]

Originally posted by: pkme2
My computers are off when not in use.

The key words are "...when not in use".

My computers are always in use. Even when I'm sleeping. It's amazing what they can do on their own.

 

[EBH]

I turn mine off.

Can somone do a calulation for how much energy is consumed during startup verusus leaving the machin on? Also what if your running on a 20 amp fuse instead of 15.(most houses use 15)

I read somwhere that it takes more energy to start up than what it takes to leave it on.

It can be likend to cars consuming more gas at start than if left at idle. Or why you get less mpg in the city. I duuno.

 

[mrfatboy]

The 15 or 20 amp fuse make no difference. The computer will draw as much power as it needs. A 15 amp fuse is plenty.

Look 3 posts up. Start up power is neglible.


1 kilowatt hour is 1000 watts running for an hour. My area is $.15 an kilowatt hour.

 

[DiverDave]

I turn mine off as soon as I am done with it. Even if I will turn it back on in a few hours (like if I go out to dinner). The computer is now 6 years old, everything is running fine though it is dated and I'm going to build a new one.

My computer at work I leave on. In 3 years a HD has died. So that small sample size says turn it off

A $7 savings a month. However, I use skype and I am always googling something. $7 is cheap.

$7*12months*6 years is $882, or another computer. I never throw money away unnecessarily.

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: EBH
Can somone do a calulation for how much energy is consumed during startup verusus leaving the machin on?

A lot of people have read that "fact". It's still wrong

Short version: PC uses more power at startup than it does idling. Let's be really silly and say it uses 5 times as much power while it boots up and that booting takes 30 seconds. As such if you're not using the computer for more than 2 and a half minutes it'd be better turned off than in idle.

 

[fluxquantum]

i keep my workstation and server on 24/7 and turn my laptop off when not in use.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Pabster
I've never shut any of my rigs off. 24/7 operation always.

Anecdotal evidence suggests it is better for the lifespan of the equipment and the few extra dollars it costs don't amount to squat.

My actual experience tells a different story: over the past two years I've had two GPU fans die and two PSU fans die. One of the times a PSU fan died ended it's lifespan. These were all 24/7 boxes.

There was also the time my wife found 80G of warez software/music/movies on her hard drive. To add injury upon insult, everything was either crap and/or in German...for example, X-Men 2 was still in theatres, but my wife had it, so I unzipped and found it was overdubbed in German with Japanese subtitles. Not a single album worth listening to. All software in German. There were another 40 or 50 folders that were still empty, but I'd had enough of disappointment...I found the FTP program, changed all their passwords, gave the FTP program an admin password, and then locked down her machine.

So if I'm..

a) at work
b) in bed

...the only machine running is my MCE box. My main machines (and the wife's) are usually powered down until needed.

 

[Guido06]

I typically turn my off at night as it makes the room noticeably warmer.

Although, when I was in college I would leave it running for weeks on end and seemed to have less issues than now with restarting it everyday.

 

[Eos]

Originally posted by: Guido06
I typically turn my off at night as it makes the room noticeably warmer.

Ugh. Our office has two computers and a stereo receiver. It's STUPID hot in there.

 

[151528]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
If you're not running something or have things like anti-virus and whatnot scheduled then I would turn it off.

If you want it to startup nice and quick then put it into hibernation.

hibernation isnt the smartest idea, as it leaves lots of temporary files on your pc, which ends up clogging up HDD space, and then slowing your system, but i guess its not so bad if you dont do very it often.

 

[Leros]

I would run DC but my dorm room would get too hot, so I turn it off.

I have an OCed upvolted x3800 that can get quite warm under load.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: eos

Originally posted by: pkme2
My computers are off when not in use.

The key words are "...when not in use".

My computers are always in use. Even when I'm sleeping. It's amazing what they can do on their own.

Yep, my systems are always in use too, especially when I am sleeping. I'm not sure I could sleep without hearing the gentle hum of all those fans...

Anyway, global warming theories are junk science and my computer use isn't gonna change squat in the overall temp of the planet but maybe burning all those tires will. :laugh:

 

[benplaut]

My laptop is on standbye whenever i'm not using it during the day, and off during the night and for most travel.
The server/router stays on all the time because it has really low power consumption, and provides internet for our neighbors

 

[TheSpaceman]

Without getting involved in a flame war about global warming, I would just suggest an analogy or two to those who run their computers 24/7:

1. Why do you turn off the lights in your house? Normal domestic light bulbs almost always blow when they are switched on, and it's well known that if left permanently turned on they would last for many years before failure. So if you left all your lights on all the time, you'd hardly ever have to replace a bulb...

2. Why do you turn off your car's engine when you're not using it? The vast majority of wear and tear on a car engine occurs when it's cold, so by turning off the engine when you're not using it, you're reducing it's life time...

The answer to both of these questions is that you know it's a simple waste of money to run your lights or your car when you're not using them. Yet an average modern PC probably uses more power than an average domestic light bulb, so why leave it sitting doing nothing productive for the majority of the day? Fair enough if you're actually doing something such as F@H, but other maintenance such as AV updates can simply be scheduled to run as soon as the box is next booted, and other things such as defragging could easily be done e.g. weekly.

 

[Pryde]

Originally posted by: mrfatboy
I keep mine on 24/7.

I actually did a complete power analysis of my house once. I figured out exactly where my power and money were going. And yes, i do have a life

For my computer, here is what I figured out.

200watts/hr X 24 hours X 30 days X $.0015 kil0watt/hr = $21.66 month


My system pulls 200watts when in use and my electric company charges me $.0015 for a kilowatt hour.

If I turned it off at night I would get..

200watts/hr X 16 hours X 30 days X $.0015 kil0watt/hr = $14.40 month

A $7 savings a month. However, I use skype and I am always googling something. $7 is cheap.

First off your figures don't add up


.0015 cents a kilowatt? Im paying 0.1475 cents a kw, roughly 100x more than you

My system draws in about 200w at idle but when im gaming it gets around 400-450w, if my system was idle for 16 hours a day ( more around the 20-22 hours a day ) it would cost me ...

200w x 16 hours = 3200w ( 3.2kw wasted a day )

3.2kw x 365 days a year = 1168kw wasted a year

1168kw / 0.1475cents = $172.28 a year wasted just from my PC case.


Americans consume 4x more energy than the average for the developed world and 3x more FOOD!

 

[dguy6789]

Have it on when you are using it, off when you are not. Conserve your energy usage. The money you save can and will add up.

 

[Jibboom]

I turn my PC off overnight, but that's solely because even though it's fairly quiet, I can't sleep with the noise. If I could have a completely silent PC it'd never be turned off.

 

[Stokes]

From a different perspective then most are taking. When you have a brand new cpu or heatsink and still 'breaking in' the boys over at artic silver recommend that allowing the cpu/thermal paste to room temperature will allow for the paste to reach the appropriate density and filling, or something along those lines. so turning it off a few times wont hurt in that regard.

 

[Stokes]

double post, sorry