Switching computer on and off

[Schutzengel]

Can someone tell me whether it is better to switch off a computer when you need to leave it for a few hours, or just leave it on all day. Which is better for the computer. Also how much electricity does a home computer use if left switched on all day. Many thanks in advance for any useful information.

[Ethel]

I leave my pc on all day, but turn the monitor off when away from keyboard.

I turn it off at night.

[aaron79]

i find it better to leave my pc on you use a lot more electricity truning it off and on all the time. i know people that will leave pc on for a few days at a time.

[VHG]

I think a hard disk prefers to be on all the time and spinning than to keep stop and start spinning.

I know someone who had a server box that was on all day and all night for years.

They did a power down one day for some essential maintenance, and when they powered back up the disk would not spin.

They had to send the disk away to have the data removed.

[deggers316]

whats wrong with standby? i use that when i'm away for an hour or more,and turning it of at night.

[ACtheTROLL]

lol

the "do I switch off" question ... almost as popular as "best virus"

every tec article I've ever read says leave it on ... something like 80% of all hardware component failures are due to constant heating or cooling (expansion and contraction) - and serious servers can be left for years without ever being switched off (and they rarely switch back on when they are)

but most of that wisdom comes from older kit ... so maybe....

the green position is switch it off
standby, sleep and hibernation are excellent .... if they work (they don't for at least as many as do (my lappy is never phased - always comes back ... neither of my desktops wake up - and I've never seen sleep work on anything.

I left my machine on for 2 years (+reboots) - the first night I turned it off ..... it died.

I now have one of those energy meter thingys .... and modern PCs take almost as much leccy as an electric heater.

so from a cost ... and thus green point of view .... as well as the constant hummmmmmmmm (office over bedroom) I now switch off just at night

[fo3nix]

Leaving off for ages won't do any harm.

Leaving on for ages won't do any harm.

Quickly alternating between these two states (once every 5 minutes or so) will do. It's the heating up then cooling down process that will do harm, if it is constantly repeated.

The best way to save energy is to turn it off when not in use. As long as you aren't turning it off every 15mins or so when you go to make a cup of tea, it'll be fine.

The power usage depends on your computer. If you have a CD drive, it'll use more than one without. Newer processors use less power than old ones. Same with graphics cards, sound cards, etc.

[Schutzengel]

Thank you everyone for your replies. As I sometimes have to be away for 2/3 hours, If I understand correctly,it should be OK to leave it on stand-by till I get back. And then just switch off at night. Hope I got that right.

[Ethel]

Yes, and switch off the monitor.

[Schutzengel]

Thank you Ethel for reminding me to switch off the monitor.

[camioneur]

*I now have one of those energy meter thingys .... and modern PCs take almost as much leccy as an electric heater.*

What on earth is an "electric heater" If you're talking an electric fire then a minimum of 1kw is ridiculously excessive for a PC , in fact it's complete nonsense. The power usegae of a desktop PC with monitor is roughly equivalent to 100th of an electric "heater" rated at 1 Kw

Heat is merely a by-product from a computer and any school boy should be able to tell you that the intentional generation of heat is the expensive thing, the dissipation of heat as a by product is much less so. A 60 watt light bulb for example will burn your hand but will run for hours and hours with no significant electical useage. A kettle on the other hand will use electricity like it's going out of fashion as will an electric fire of "heater"

Ethel is quite correct in that turning the monitor off when not in use is by far the greenest thing to do as it uses roughly 3 times the power of the tower.

[ACtheTROLL]

cam

when I went to school 1000/100 = 10
so in one sentence you say

>>The power usegae of a desktop PC with monitor is
>>roughly equivalent to 100th of an electric "heater"
>>rated at 1 Kw
which is 10w

>>turning the monitor off when not in use is by far the
>>greenest thing to do as it uses roughly 3 times the
>> power of the tower

so that means monitor consumes 7.5 w
and PC consumes 2.5w

I think old lad (or is it little boy?)
that either your maths is off or you are just trying to pick a fight
also
when did "almost" as much leccy as an electric heater.
become the same as
"a minimum of 1kw" is ridiculously excessive for a PC

keep taking the pills ...

[camioneur]

sorry, a typing error, meant to type 10th and got an extra 0 in it so it came out 100th. Thought this may have been reasonably obvious but apparently not