Is Your Computer Always On?

I turn it straight off instead of sleep mode most times. Not everyone can afford shut down a pc often because they are using it as a server/bitcoin mining/seed torrents etc. But the energy consumption behaviour of a PC is not homogeneus during all day, it oscilates depending of the activities you're perfoming. Mining bitcoin is like owning a gas glutton vehicle, your electric bill gonna skyrocket and explode into our faces as blitzkrieg spread bomb -scary-, seeding torrent doesn't consume much in comparison. It really depends, myself don't have a reason to keep it on all day long.

 

I keep my PC on all the time. I didn't know that putting it in sleep mode would make a difference because no one has ever said it has. I am going to give it a try because we just got our electric bill and I would be able to make a comparison between May's and June's usage to see if there is any kind of savings. Good OP @Denis Hard.

 

Well leaving your computer on all the time puts you at risk for viruses and such. I must admit, I used to leave my computer on all the time, but I really have to carefully monitor my data usage and some uploads and such might not all be completed overnight..although that is when they are supposedly set to be done. I had one of my older computers I just noticed had been left on. Probalby one of the reasons I used so much data this month.

 

Oh no, I always switch mine off. I don't even set them to sleep, it has to be off completely. But I was quite taken aback to recently hear that many people don't switch off at all. It's the same case where I work, the computers seem to be on 24/7. In my previous job we had to be sure they were completely switched off, unless there was maintenance scheduled for overnight.

 

I use sleep mode all the time. It keeps me from having to start my computer up each day and then I also save on electricity by having it in sleep mode. I have my computer automatically set to go into sleep mode if it is inactive for 30 minutes. I know I'm saving on electricity by doing this. I think I may set up my computer to just turn off at certain each night too to save money.

 

I never turn my computer off unless it is having an issues or the battery dies. But the benefit of having a laptop is that I can just change the settings, so that closing the lid automatically puts the computer into sleep mode. I'm not sure that I would be as diligent if I had a desktop PC that I actually had to put in sleep mode myself.

 

Nope - if I'm not using my computer its always switched off and unplugged - as not only do I object to paying for electricity that I'm not actually using - but from a security point of view - its not a good idea to be continually connected - especially as “ always on “ computers ( including those which are switched off but still plugged into the mains ) are an open invitation to invasion of privacy, hackers and viruses.

 

My computer used to be on twenty-four seven, but since we converted our dining room, and had to move the desktop out of the room because of space, I have been using my laptop. I only put it on when I have work to do on it or something fun, such as play games. But our electric bill used to be very high when we had the desktop in the dining room.

 

I am strict when it comes to electricity. It's not really being frugal, I just hate wastage. In the olden days, my husband would not shut down the computer when he would go back to use it after an hour. It will be on a standby mode. But come to think of it, isn't it a waste of energy to let the computer run for 1 hour? Even if it is on standby mode, it is still running and consuming no matter how little electricity. Okay, the rule is this - when the computer will be idle for 30 minutes, just shut it down and you can always re-boot it when you are ready to use.

 

Money is tight for us these days, and we have to constantly tell the children to make sure that they have turned off the lights once they have finished whatever it is that they were doing in that room. The same can be said for computer use. Our children like to leave their wii plugged in even when they are not using it. They have tablets and laptops too, that they like to leave on sometimes, and it waste electric.

 

No. My computer is actually pretty much weak for that. It would have broken down in less than a year or so. Moreover, there's no need for me to keep it turned on always. I'm currently not seeding any Torrents. I'm not downloading anything massive either. So, when I leave I usually turn it off. I guess most people do that, right?

 

Nope, I don't even use our desktop computer much. And with my laptop, I always shut it down before keeping it away. And even back when I was using our computer heavily, I'd still shut it down whenever I was about to go to sleep. Or even if I was just going to eat or take a bath.

My mom is very careful about wasting electricity. We don't even let plugs of appliances plugged in if we're not using it. I'm sure she will be quite angry if I leave the computer on all night while we're sleeping.

And I do live in a different house now since I am married but I still have that habit of shutting the computer down and unplugging appliances. Unfortunately, my husband isn't that way... He leaves the chargers plugged even if it isn't charging anything. He had slept whilst the laptop is on beside him.

And for me, not only is that dangerous, it's also very wasteful. I don't even charge my gadgets overnight or my laptop overnight. What more leaving a computer on all night? I try to download games or videos during the day so I can look over it. This way, I won't have the computer on all night.

 

I sometimes leave the PC on when I need to rest my arms, head or back from being in front of the PC after a couple of hours. And then sometimes I fall asleep, so the PC can be running on for around 30 mins. to 4 hours at the most while in sleep mode. It's a waste, I know so I try to avoid it.

 

I never shut my laptop down, I just shut the lid at the end of the day and let it go into sleep mode. I'm not sure why I do it, I've just got into the habit of it.

 

I used to leave mine on all of the time, but lately, I've been shutting it down at night. We've been going through a particularly stormy season, which is why I started shutting it down, but I learned that because it was always on, so was I. I would pop on it to check things when I was near the computer, and I am choosing to cut back a little these days, and unplug at night. I still have the tablet, so I can check on the shops, but I'm not interested in always being available on the desktop. If my electric bill goes down because of it, I probably won't notice, because it's steadily climbing because of the AC, but every bit saved is good.

 

Sometimes I do leave my computer running because I don't like having to go through the whole startup process in the morning but from what I understand the computer goes into sleep mode whenever I leave it and close the lid or the screen so I am more confident in just leaving it like that. For the older laptops I always made sure to shut them down first because those did not have the power saving features that these current ones have. Form time to time I'll shut down the laptop but mostly just to let the computer rest instead of it being because of wanting to save electricity.

 

Sadly I don't. I know it's bad, and people tell me that I should turn it off at least once every few days but I never do. I always just shut down the screen of the laptop so it just goes to sleep.

 

I'm guilty of leaving it on. Only because, being old, it is very hard to get started when it has been turned on. I'll try sleep, Thanks!