Useful extras
January 15, 2008
Turn off your computer
Challenge Yourself for: 24 Hours
Lots of us like the convenience of leaving our computers ‘asleep’ or in ‘hibernate’ rather than turning them off when we’re done every day. But this daily habit wastes energy.
Today, when you’re done at work shut off your computer before leaving the office. Or, if you’re at home do the same thing. Every little bit helps.
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I try to make an effort to shut down my computer at night. All cords are plugged into a power protector. I hope this helps.
I walked thru my home and unplugged all chargers that are not in use.
I’m famous for not shutting the computer down. I have 3 other people using it at different hours of the day and night. So, I’m making an effort to shut the computer down when I leave the house and when it’s bedtime for everyone!
My computer is shut off every night when I am done using it. My work computer is always shut off at the end of our shift. They had us keep them on in the past for updates overnight, but they have stopped this. Updates can now occur during the normal work day as we are working, which is nice. :)
Baby steps over here…I’m going to shut down every evening and start up at whatever point in the day is the first time I need it. This should save at least 10 hours a day!
From a techie perspective there are two main thoughts on this: (1) the wear and tear on a computer can actually increase from daily startup and shutdowns; and (2) the energy savings and the decrease in time your computer is idle while online (read vulnerable) far out weight any potential hardware damage. There are many other befits o regular shut downs including what TruTallica mentioned.
I would go one step further and hook all your computer related items (printer, monitor, dsl/cable modem, router, etc.) to a decent power protector. That way you can cut the power to all of them with one switch.
I actually turned my computer off last night and I will probably do so tonight now that I fixed things up for it to load faster.