Community poll forum: Poll: Do you turn off your computer when it's not in use?

If I leave it on after about 5 or 6 hours it starts getting sluggish. Then it starts freezing up. I have 2 gig of memory so that should not be the problem. I can live with it. My eyes can use a rest anyway.

I do not think that Hackers can get into a computer when it is on Hibernate!
I have remote access turned off so that no one can even get access when the PC is turned off.

I used to turn my computer on and off until I was informed by a friend's husband, who works in the computer field, that this is not good for the computer. I put it on standby when it's not in use and only turn it off if I won't be using it for a few days. It does not use much more energy on standby than turned off - my eletric bill is still about the same. It os also more convient because it takes a while for all the programs to load when it starts and on standby it's right where you left off. I have had fewer problems operating it this way as well. I never get the fatal error message or have problems with peripherals loading incorrectly either.

i leave it on, so there is not stress on the computer by turning it on after being turned off. as for global warming, it's for the idiots who fall for algore's lies while he invests Heavily in the enviro companies and makes a Fortune off the idiots who believe him

The lap top I'm on now uses 27 watts when screen is off and 32 watts screen on. It is computing 7/24 a week.
Because it is a Mac, I don't have virus, etc problems.

Other computer is Power Mac with running power of 220 watts. Standby is 6 watts. Power factor when on is 0.99! Considering
that standby is about same as a night light. I sacrifice perhaps 0.1 Kwh which costs a bit over a cent a day.
Say about thirty cents a month. Not a huge cost.

Draw your own conclusions whether it is worth having almost instant on.

On the other hand we use the new spiral lamps that use a third the energy of a hot filament. Only hot filament lamps left are
in the icebox, oven and microwave, and one does not use them much. And a great device on the wall can turn off unused lights.


duke, who makes a dime squeal like a quarter.

If I'll be returning within a few hours, I'll manually hibernate it (it's automatic after 1 hour if I've forgotten). It takes less than a minute to restore the desktop to where it was. Otherwise, I turn it off.

i dnt because my laptop and computer is always on downloading movies/music/tv shows. i have also noticed that i needed to install an air con unit on the wall to keep it cool and it works like a charm. i havent turned off my computer since 02nd october. no side effects at the mo but without good fans/water cooling the system would have problems.


Joshua

I'm never finished working and I may have an idea during the night (I design things). If I cut them off it's because of a storm, otherwise, I have at least three on most of the time. Okay, so I'm not 'green', but I work about 18-20 hours a day. Get about 4-6 hours sleep and I'm back to work. Anyone else?
I'll say this! If I had the power I need (computing, memory and storage - all costing more than I have) I would only have one machine on all the time. Also, I have never met anyone doing anything close to what I'm doing, in scale or diversity over the last 8 years.

As a student of Computer Science, I have a computer hosting some personal servers and its uptime is 12 hours at least daily whether I'm using it or not. It's turned on from 12:00 to 00:00 that I usually go to sleep and turn it off.

Yes, I do turn my computer off when not in use. The number one reason is that I don't see a reason to have any device running if you aren't using it. It is a waste of energy. Number two reason is the fear that someone might hack into my computer (not that they can't while I am using it) but there is more of a chance if it is on all of the time. Number three and final reason is the concern of a power surge which might damage my computer and everything else I have on the line. Hopefully this answers your question.

mdominik

I'm having a good time reading the replies, but I'm so tired and sleepy I'll have to read the rest later.

About a year ago I came to understand that computers these days use more power than my first one in '91. But I have hand-me-down computers, and both were acting different when I turned them back on--usually for the worse, and mostly long-term. So I have to leave them on most of the time now.

Except. . .

On my Sabbath--if it was good enough for God to rest then, it's good enough for me. (And my machines.)

Sometimes when they act up and shut themselves off, I leave them off for a while.

Sometimes when my son-in-law the expert couldn't come by, he'd say to unplug it for half an hour, sometimes overnight. That always helps, if it doesn't get rid of the problem altogether. This goes for my cheapie printer and my all-in-one as well.

I usually work on the computers at night, which takes care of any extra heat in the summertime. And I turn the thermostat down when the weather's cold.

When I didn't have a phone (so no Internet), I volunteered at an organization down the street, and turned my heat down while I was gone. I walked the three blocks and saved carfare that way, but the benefits of being in their office were far more than the light-and-gas savings. Now that we've both moved, I'll still go by bus to volunteer there. This also updates my resume, AND my interrupted college studies.

Being poor, I usually have to wait awhile before I can spend more, and in the meantime I ask whoever knows more than I do, and look up everything I can think of that applies. I catch on to a lot of useful information that way.

This Forum is the most relevant and helpful I've come across, between the staff and the variety of people who write in. You're all great!

But I wish more people had better grammar and spelling!

By the way, what is UPS and PFC?

P.S.: Ukwangela, my "African name" means "Exchange of ideas. . .which is the greatest form of learning".

First, I do it to save energy. Second, my internet connection is cable which is wide open (actually all connections to the net are wide open) so I'd rather not take the chance someone is using my computer for their spamming needs. If I suspect someone has broken through my defenses the best way to stop it is to turn your machine off or reboot. I protect my computer with several programs some of which I wrote myself (sorry, I don't share mainly because spammers read this stuff just like everyone else). Actually, it doesn't matter any more. A while back the earth went over the 6B and every day more computers go online. One day computers starting up will cause the second coming of Christ and the earth will blow its fuse. No, I'm not a religious nut. I'll turn 60 this year. I've seen the birth of the PC and I think I'll see the death as well. The only way to get out of it is to design electronics to use the human brain for power but if that happened the world economy would grind to a halt. SO.............does it matter????
NO..........read comic books instead. Or drive race cars. Or......

Our computers will be powered down if not used overnight or if no one plans to use it within two hours.

Consideration:

If the system will be restarted 2 or more times in an evening, I will leave it on until we power it down before going to bed.

I do encourage family members to utilize the Stand By function (via a crescent moon button on the keyboard) between sessions. On one computer this works flawlessly and quickly (though my wife gets impatient with the wireless connection being reestablished). Another computer can use Stand By mode, but takes longer to reach a usable point.

Reasoning on turning off computer:

Even though the system may appear to not be doing anything when not in use, system components are still powered and active. Anytime voltage is applied and current is flowing, the normal life expectancy of system components is being reduced.

Think in terms of a typical light bulb. Bulbs come with life spans (e.g. 1200 hours). This assumes 1200 hours of continuous use with no on/off cycling typical of entering and leaving a room.

Computer systems are the same way. Like light bulbs, powering on a system requires a little jolt that takes a little more away from the life span of the components. For physics buffs, think of a mass (e.g. the platters of a hard drive) going from the inertial state of rest to a state of motion. It takes a little extra power/force for the disk platters to overcome their resting state. They must be accelerated (application of force) until the appropriate spin rate is obtained. Afterwards, it takes far less force to maintain the spin.

Of all the light bulbs I have replaced, most failed when I turned them on. On one computer I had 8 years ago, a chip on the graphics card blew with an audible pop when I powered on the system. Most component failures, however, are less noticeable based on other experiences and reports from other people

Exception to the turn-off rule:

I will leave the system on overnight to perform updates, backups and intensive maintenance activities (e.g. deep virus scanning, registry maintenance, drive defragmentation). I think it is better to do this after-hours than when we need the systems during the evenings while trying to do homework, research and pay bills.

Security concerns if left running overnight:

Minimal, considering three important items.

1) Properly installed/configured/secured router with NAT.
2) Up-to-date and configured anti-viral, anti-adware, and firewall software on all computers within home network.
3) Ensuring important financial documents and transactions are not executed on the shared family computer (such are isolated to a more secure system). Identity and privacy protection software can help eliminate concerns, but I am not seen sufficient test reports to make me feel comfortable with conducting financial transactions and accessing my bank account on any other family computer.

Those are my thoughts on the subject. I look forward to reading more opinions.

I turn it off overnight. One of the reasons is I have a Harmon Kardon subwoofer whose light remains on until I shut off the power strip. I don't know how much energy the subwoofer consumes, but to be on the safe side I power everything off.

Due to being off the grid (having NO intertie/infrastructure connection to my home) I ensure that even if there are transients (things that suck power even when power is ostensibly off) it makes no effect on my power consumption.

Because I have a battery bank, generator, solar power...in time I will have wind turbines. I attempt to have the lowest footprint on the earth as I use my electronics.

Colleen
www.mataranka.org
www.gotCM.com