joesquared

Ok, I know a lot of people who never turn off their computer...some just always leave it on...some put it on standby/sleep when they are not using it, and some hibernate.

I heard from one person...that his friend never turns off his computer...I'm not sure what he does as in standby or hibernate...but supposedly it only costs him $4 a year to run his computer.

Does anyone know the hard facts?

Lately, I've been turning off my computer less and less...when I am gone during the day, I usually either just leave it on with a screen saver...or will put it on standby or hibernate when I sleep.

The argument is, it takes more power to start up a computer than to keep it running.

Does a computer "refresh" itself if it is not being used for a long period of time? Or does that only happen when you restart?

Show me the money...err...information.

__________________
joe²

hapoo

Thats bullspit!!!!!!!!!

the average desktop computer uses around 200 watts (maybe less, but we are powerusers ) thats 4.8 KWatts a day about 144 KWatts a month, and 1728 KWatts a year. Call me crazy but i dont think 1728 KWatts cost anywhere near 4 bucks, not here in California anyway

__________________

OC

According to specs, my 19" monitor uses 130 watts. Combine this with the 300 watt power supply in my computer and you get 430 watts, or .43 kilowatts. In one hour it uses .43 kilowatt hours (.43 Kw/h) of electricity.

There are 8760 hours in a year (365x24). In the course of a year, if left on 24/7, my computer would use 3766.8 Kw/h of electricity (8760 x .43). At a rate of, say, eight cents per kilowatt hour, that means my computer would cost me $301.34 to run for a year (3766.8 x .08).

What would $4 worth of electricity get you at that rate? That would get you 50 Kw/h, or enough to power a 100w light bulb for 20.833 days.

__________________
But what is adulthood except a delayed end-run around our parents' better judgment?
-- Peter Egan

*cough*

Jeffbx

...and is it worth $25/mo to keep your computer on 24x7?? I did that calculation about a year ago, and now I shut my PC down every night.

topane

One argument for leaving the thing on is you keep the internal temperature constant. When you turn it off and on constantly the components expand and contract with the temperature changes, causing everything to shift in its' slots. Can cause strange things to happen. Commonly referred to as "chip creep".

__________________
Shall we buy a new guitar?
Shall we drive a more powerful car?

Rocket2Fun

or you could just move into a dorm at some nearby college and not have to pay for electricity
i leave my computer serving a lan game of CS 24/7 good think i don't have to pay for electricity
BTW overclocked you have too much time on your hands

__________________
Kill the monkey!!!!

hapoo

yes but everyone i know upgrades before their computers break down, not to mention with the money you save on electricity you could afford a new computer by the time it breaks.

Apex

Does no one here use the sleep function?

Bires

I can see older power supplies drawing maximum current all the time, but you would think newer PS's would know how to power down when the motherboard sends a hiberate command to the devices...

It would appear some research should go into this....I think I have a project....

__________________
Five years...

im with apex, i dont put my comp on sleep, but my monitor turns off after 20 minutes and my hd turns off after one hour. that leaves my core components running most of the time.

joesquared

Wow...$25/month to run a computer 24/7?

Ok...not leaving it on all the time anymore.

Hmm...so what do you guys think about the standby and hibernate mode?

Standby keeps the computer running on memory...low power...like sleep.

Hibernate basically shuts down the computer, but keeps the current session saved, so you just resume windows after you turn it back on.

So it seems like I should shut down at night...and just leave it standby or whatnot during the day? Because I'm all over the place during the day, but I always "retreat" back to the computer in the end.

Bires, if you do some research, please let me know what you find. My e-mail is joltinjoejoe@yahoo.com

I guess I don't need everything to be exact, I just want to know in general, what is best...shutting down at night and then leaving the computer to run the rest of the day?

hapoo

I use the standby function if i know i'm going to be away from the computer for a couple hours (like if i have to go to school or out)
The only time i use the Hibernate function is when i'm Coding something and i wanna keep all the windows as they were when i return.

joesquared

I see...sounds logical.

Hmm...so which is more energy efficient? Standby or Hibernate? Because hibernate is kind of like shutting down and turning it on again...isn't it?

hibernate, because all open data and settings are saved to disk and then the computer is turned off.

joesquared

But that's the thing...the computer is turned OFF...meaning you have to turn it ON again...meaning it uses more energy...and that whole thing about the "chip creep."

I just put the computer on standby last night when I went to sleep, and this morning when I went to school.

Unless someone can prove that hibernate is more efficient...standby 'till I die.

hapoo

I dont know what to say...
WHEN SOMETHING IS OFF IT USES NO POWER
WHEN SOMETHING IS ON IT USES POWER
Its as simple as that.

Mezpin

Chip creep? Bah. I'd be more concerned about switching my TV on and off than my computer.

My computer is in the same room I sleep in. Considering my computer has so many fans I can hear it when I'm parking in the driveway while the engine is still running... I opt to sleep with the machine off.

Mezpin

joesquared

Good point...but...isn't it true that it takes MORE power to turn the computer on than just leaving it on stand by?

I put it on standby from about midnight or 1am...'till about 9am...I get up to check my e-mail and such...then put it back on standby...and go to school. I'll either get back at 2 or 4...depends on the day.

Then it goes off standby...and stays on for the rest of the day...until I go to sleep.

Wouldn't it use more power to turn it on in the morning...then turn it off...then turn it on again when I get back from school?

Oh, and when I'm back from school, I also go out some times...I usually leave it on...unless it's an extended away, and I'll put it on standby.

So it's better to turn it on two or three times a day rather than standby?

hapoo

no it doesn't take more power to start it up than to put it on standby, if you leave your house frequently the best thing to do is turn it on in the morning and shut it off at night, during the day use Sleep mode

joesquared

Ok...so when I leave...I should put it on hibernate? [Saves data to disk...and shuts off]

joesquared

But that's the thing...standby is supposed to be more energy efficient than turning your computer on and off frequently...that's why it was made...

hapoo

The power issue aside, ANY computer running a microsoft OS should be restarted at least once a day.

no, its more time efficient. as in it takes less time to startup when its in standby mode. that way it starts up quicker.





Thank you hapoo. weird stuff starts happening when you leave that stuff all the time.


[Edited by TommyBoomfiger on 05-11-2001 at 02:28 PM]

Paymaster

Getting really nit-picky... motors have a higher current draw when you first start them up, hence the lights dimming briefly when your refrigerator or AC kick in. This would apply on a MUCH smaller scale to the fans in your case and motors on your hard drive.

(Hopefully the lights don't dim when you boot your PC...)

The components on the motherboards include a lot of capacitors, and there is typically a fair amount of capacitance on the chips themselves as well. This will draw more current at start up as well. Again, this is a really small scale we are talking about...

So, if you were constantly turning the machine on and off, then you would be consuming extra power. If you leave it off for any reasonable period of time, you are saving power.

joesquared

Awesome...that's what I was looking for Paymaster.

Thanks for your help hapoo as well.

I will be hibernating from now on.

you might want to shut down the computer once in a while. if you always leave your computer on, only leave on standby or hibernate many important functions go undone. some parts of windows (im assuming you use windows, if you dont, i dont know what happens in bootups and shut downs in other os's) there are certain funtions which only occur during shut down and they need to be done in order for windows to operate properly.

joesquared

I'm using Windows 2000 Professional...pretty stable, haven't had problems with it.

Isn't Windows XP out? Any word on that? Any info? I heard it's coded from NT and Professional? Something like that?

pcsbyte

I'm sure it varies from city to city and state to state. I'm going to call/email my power company(PG&E,dirty rat bastards)and see if they have an answer. The quote they give me (if any) will be for northern and central Ca. I will keep you all posted.

johnnymk

Air conditioner motors and air compressor motors require more starting torque because of the unusual loads they must overcome (Air remaining in tank,etc.). I don't believe that the tiny motors and the electrical needs of a computer system requires any unusual starting requirements. If anybody knows differently, let us know. I really doubt that starting and shutting off a computer causes any kind of shock loads to the system, either, except possibly on a real cold day outside, where the temperature differences are significant. However, I am just guessing.

pcsbyte

My original post was regarding computer power usage, not the AC...hehe.