Question:
Hi everyone,
Couldnt think where else to put this question so i thought in here was the best place.
Does anyone know if it is cheaper to run a computer overnight and never turn it off than it would be to turn it on and off everyday.
Cheers
Answers:
Hello derrybhoy
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Nile
Answers:
I would turn it off as that will save burning your house down.
Nile
Answers:
Hi everyone,
Couldnt think where else to put this question so i thought in here was the best place.
Does anyone know if it is cheaper to run a computer overnight and never turn it off than it would be to turn it on and off everyday.
Cheers
Simply put if the Power supply is 400w then when the PC is running that is the amount of electricity it is using.
(Give or take some bit shutting down).
If the PC is off then its consuming no power.
So i think that answers itself.
What you cant sensibly account for is the wear and tear of constantly switching a pc on and off. Then again they are designed for this.
In short for the biggest savings only switch it on when you need to use it unless you are using it as a network server but thats another story.
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I turn all my PCs off except the server downstairs which runs 24-7, mainly because it is an email server and it performs all its housekeeping in the early hours.
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I have had my server running 24/7 for the last 5 years no problems with it at all. It gets shut down from the occasional update, hardware update etc. I do regularly clean it too from dust, it is over due and defrag it mainly in the wee hours.
The other pc in the house arent on as much, so I always shut them down when not in use. I also employ power mangement so it regularly shuts devices down when not in use.
Answers:
Hi everyone,
Couldnt think where else to put this question so i thought in here was the best place.
Does anyone know if it is cheaper to run a computer overnight and never turn it off than it would be to turn it on and off everyday.
Cheers
Cost of electricity would be cheaper if you turned it off overnight but there are other considerations. It's said that the shock to the system on start up could reduce the life of a PC but I haven't seen any data to support this. There is also risk of electrical fault leading to fire but I haven't seen any data for this either.
Take a look at for costs of running PC.
My PC is normally running during the day but I turn it off overnight.
Answers:
Cost of electricity would be cheaper if you turned it off overnight but there are other considerations. It's said that the shock to the system on start up could reduce the life of a PC but I haven't seen any data to support this. There is also risk of electrical fault leading to fire but I haven't seen any data for this either.
Take a look at for costs of running PC.
My PC is normally running during the day but I turn it off overnight.
i've had 4 computers over the last 10 years and we have ALWAYS turned them off. i find that windows tends to crash more if you don't let the computer have some rest time (not so bad with XP but was really bad with 98)
all of our computers have had long lives... we still have one and it's nearly 7 years old, it's my dd (4) computer. we have just replaced one (6 years old) with a new dual core machine (SEXY!) and another with a Mac Mini the oldest one( would be 10 years old) was just gotten rid of because it was of no use softwarewise..plus we got tired of feeding the hamster that was running the wheel to power the ancient thing
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Ummm the OP had no mention of a server.
Its cheaper to turn off as then you arent using any electrickery
also it seriously does cut down the risk of a PC fire and saves
a little bit of the enviroment and for people who do have a server
at home just to say "Ive got a server at home" or to catch the odd email
I think its a bit selfish to leave the thing on.
Edit: Proof of PC fire it happened to a neighbour whos house was wrecked.
Er shock to a PC on start up... Mmm how is it meant to come on then
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I never even considered PC fires! That's a scary thought. I have always left my desktop on 24/7 for the last 5 years lol. Not had a fire yet (touch wood) but now you mention it, I think i'll start shutting it down at night. Problem is i'm prone to coming down in the night to go on PC, would be such a pain to have to boot up when I am only wanting a quick nosey on the web etc.
Answers:
I never even considered PC fires! That's a scary thought. I have always left my desktop on 24/7 for the last 5 years lol. Not had a fire yet (touch wood) but now you mention it, I think i'll start shutting it down at night. Problem is i'm prone to coming down in the night to go on PC, would be such a pain to have to boot up when I am only wanting a quick nosey on the web etc.
I would also just give it a spring clean,
With an Artists paint brush and a can of compressed air or vacuum.
Disconnect PC then take PC cover off and either blow the dust out and lightly
brush any dust away in a well ventilated room or outside, or Vacuum the dust out but dont touch anything inside with the vacuum and lightly brush away dust, Where the Power Supply fan is I would blow that out first.
Once all dust free there will be a massively lowered risk of fire hazard
and the PC will be more efficient at circulating air.
Please beware you do this at your own risk, as I am well aware of the
way to do this I always reccomend this, if you are not sure take it to a PC
shop they will charge about £10-£20 its just very good PC housekeeping.
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Also consider using the Hibernate option on your PC, it copies anything your're currently working on to the hard drive, then switches itself off. When you turn it back on it restores everything. You can be in the middle of writing a word document, you don't even need to save it, hibernate - turn on days,weeks,months even years later and it will be as if you hadn't turned the PC off. This uses no power and works for desktops as well as Laptops but you may have to enable the feature.
I use this all the time, the PC boots up a LOT faster as well, and you can leave all your work, websites etc open ready for your return.
For Windows XP, check out
Hope this Helps.
SnapFish
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Also consider using the Hibernate option on your PC, it copies anything your're currently working on to the hard drive, then switches itself off. When you turn it back on it restores everything. You can be in the middle of writing a word document, you don't even need to save it, hibernate - turn on days,weeks,months even years later and it will be as if you hadn't turned the PC off. This uses no power and works for desktops as well as Laptops but you may have to enable the feature.
I use this all the time, the PC boots up a LOT faster as well, and you can leave all your work, websites etc open ready for your return.
For Windows XP, check out
Hope this Helps.
SnapFish
I believe this has already been discussed in post 11 above.
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Thanks for that info Intel, I'll do that over the next few days.
Ember x
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I never even considered PC fires! That's a scary thought. I have always left my desktop on 24/7 for the last 5 years lol. Not had a fire yet (touch wood) but now you mention it, I think i'll start shutting it down at night. Problem is i'm prone to coming down in the night to go on PC, would be such a pain to have to boot up when I am only wanting a quick nosey on the web etc.
Why not just hibernate your PC (if using XP) It saves all of your currently opened programs and stuff in memory to disk then you can power off. Next time you turn on it not only turns on quicker, it means all your programs are open again and you are back running just as before. You may need to turn it on in Screen Saver > Power > Hibernate options. Then when you shut down either hold down ctrl I think, could be alt or shift though, then select hibernate or pick hibernate from menu.
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Why not just hibernate your PC (if using XP) It saves all of your currently opened programs and stuff in memory to disk then you can power off. Next time you turn on it not only turns on quicker, it means all your programs are open again and you are back running just as before. You may need to turn it on in Screen Saver > Power > Hibernate options. Then when you shut down either hold down ctrl I think, could be alt or shift though, then select hibernate or pick hibernate from menu.
Hi
I have just been into my control panel and set the hibernate option. I have never used this before so have set it at 30 mins (to hibernate after 30 mins) is this a good amount of time or should I do something else?
Thanks for the info guys, my PC will use a lot less power now
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Hi
I have just been into my control panel and set the hibernate option. I have never used this before so have set it at 30 mins (to hibernate after 30 mins) is this a good amount of time or should I do something else?
Thanks for the info guys, my PC will use a lot less power now
Auto hibernate at 30 minutes idle should be OK. Don't forget you can also hibernate your PC manually, I can't remember which you press but you either press and hold ctrl, shift or alt at the shut down box and standby changes to hibernate you then click this then let go of the keyboard key. (That's when your using the welcome screen) if using classic login just pick hibernate from shutdown list.
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Why not just hibernate your PC (if using XP) It saves all of your currently opened programs and stuff in memory to disk then you can power off. Next time you turn on it not only turns on quicker, it means all your programs are open again and you are back running just as before. You may need to turn it on in Screen Saver > Power > Hibernate options. Then when you shut down either hold down ctrl I think, could be alt or shift though, then select hibernate or pick hibernate from menu.
what percentage of power does that still use though?
many items still use 60-80% of their power on standby
we turn EVERYTHING off here including the shower and the cooker at the wall
the cooker is for safety reasons as we have a young child but it really saves a LOT of money on the electric bills and being quite a greenie i feel quilty if i leave it all on
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what percentage of power does that still use though?
many items still use 60-80% of their power on standby
I'm sure it's not that high!
A computer as an example will use roughly 10-30 watts when in standby, compared with the 200-400 watts (depends on your machine spec) it uses when running.
When in hibernation, it's basically the same as shutting it down. It's virtually completely off apart from a small amount of power the motherboard I think still uses, a matter of a watt or two.
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Lengthy discussion on this topic a year ago. See
Amazing what you can find if you use Search.
TOG