Saturday, December 18, 2004

Turn off your computer!

Turn Off Your Computer When You are Not Using It!!

I posted a much longer post about this. But I realize more people will read it if I can the old post and just go with this:
  • 8 hours of unattended computer use is $6/month at 4.4 cents a kWh
    Caveat: this is assuming your CRT monitor stays on that whole time
    Response: most computers are on more than 8 hours unattended, so the cost still ends up being $6 or more.

  • Turning your computer off shaves money off your electric bill
  • Lots of people turning their computers off lowers the price of electricity
  • Lots of people turning their computers off is good for the environment

  • Most computers can be turned off by putting them into Hibernate Mode. In these cases, boot-up times are extremly short and all open applications at Hibernation stay open.
  • Most modern computers can be configured to turn on automatically at some given time. The computer can be configured to be ON by the time you WAKE UP.
  • Windows can be configured to turn OFF (or Hibernate) a computer automatically after a certain time or after a certain condition.

  • AT LEAST configure your monitor to go into "sleep mode" after a certain amount of idle time!
  • NOTE THAT LCD MONITORS USE FAR LESS ELECTRICITY
Funny Conclusion

I'm fairly sure that AOL and the electric companies must be in cahoots with each other. I know that it wasn't until AOL IM entered my life that I actually WANTED to leave my computer on all night...

But don't worry, the people who were going to IM you at 2 AM WILL just e-mail you instead.

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