Ever leave your PC on?

[BillsGirl]

We put our main pc in sleep mode and turn the monitor off.... it's bad for a computer to constantly be turned off and on... but if we aren't going to use it for a while we'll shut it off... our laptops get turned off every night!

[tomhank17]

Never waste the energy

Well I don't keep my pc on. As soon as i m off with work i close it. And there are some conditions in which you have to leave te computer on but in this case you should turn off the monitor. Because for sure it will increase the bill although not to that extent. And also it is waste of energy which is a cause for global warming. So guys please use electricity carefully and help the environment.

[garilon]

You should switch both off at the wall especially if you monitor has a stand by light

[cicy33]

That really surprises me....

Not the shut down part. I also shut down daily too.

I am on Firefox both at work and at home... and have had very few problems.... It's only when I am running in conjunction with my MP3 player and a game or some other combination that I have problems. By itself, next to none.

What exactly does this closing pane say?

Something like closing hidden pane. Can't remember exactly. I don't play games on firefox cuz mostly the games sites won't support it

[leighangela]

My electric bill went down $10/mo when I started turning my computer off every night.

[Broken Arrow]

My electric bill went down $10/mo when I started turning my computer off every night.

That's like giving yourself $120 every Christmas. Nice!

[MomofFour]

My electric bill went down $10/mo when I started turning my computer off every night.

Wow! I have a bad habit of never turning off my computer, I think I will try to change my habit!

[cicy33]

I have started turning it off at night on a more regular basis. Before we just rebooted during the day. We do leave it on during the day usually as it takes about 5 minutes to fully load.

[VickiO100]

Schedule a Shutdown

I got tired of making sure the computers were shut down every night so I set up a scheduled task to turn each one off at 10:00 pm. Here are the steps (looks worse than it is):

1. Got to My Computer-->Control Panel.
2. Select Scheduled Tasks.
3. Double-click Add Scheduled Task.
4. The wizard will appear. Click Next.
5. Click Browse.
6. Type "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\shutdown.exe" in the file name box and Click Open.
7. Select "Daily" on the next screen. You can leave the default task name or type in another name. Click Next.
8. Select the time you want the task to run, how often and when you want it to start. Click Next.
9. Enter the user name and password if you know it, otherwise just click next.
10. Check "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish" and Click Finish.
11. When the Advanced Properties box opens, add "-s" (without quotes) to the end of the file name in the Run box. Check the "Run only if logged on" box. Click OK.

Between doing this and putting CFLs in all of my light fixtures, I have reduced my electricity usage by 100 kw per month, which obviously saves money too.

[aevans1206]

My husband insists on leaving the computer on for "computer health" reasons, but he's very old school on that front. I think we should shut the computer down.

I started unplugging our toaster and coffee maker, etc. Our electric bill went down about $6. This reminds me that I need to make an effort to shut off all of the little doodlie-bobs around the house before I leave in the morning and before we go night night

[rennigade]

my computers on 24/7. im either downloading or uploading something all the time. the only time its off is when i take the case off and blow the dust out of the inside.

[eisor]

I got tired of making sure the computers were shut down every night so I set up a scheduled task to turn each one off at 10:00 pm. Here are the steps (looks worse than it is):

1. Got to My Computer-->Control Panel.
2. Select Scheduled Tasks.
3. Double-click Add Scheduled Task.
4. The wizard will appear. Click Next.
5. Click Browse.
6. Type "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\shutdown.exe" in the file name box and Click Open.
7. Select "Daily" on the next screen. You can leave the default task name or type in another name. Click Next.
8. Select the time you want the task to run, how often and when you want it to start. Click Next.
9. Enter the user name and password if you know it, otherwise just click next.
10. Check "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish" and Click Finish.
11. When the Advanced Properties box opens, add "-s" (without quotes) to the end of the file name in the Run box. Check the "Run only if logged on" box. Click OK.

Between doing this and putting CFLs in all of my light fixtures, I have reduced my electricity usage by 100 kw per month, which obviously saves money too.

This is awesome!! THANKS!!

[sunshinepat]

I used to leave my computer on, but turn off my monitor until I noticed my meter running like crazy, when the only thing that was on was my computer. I went in and turned it off,then checked the meter again and there was such a huge difference! Now I turn it off after each use.
Pat

[LuxLiving]

Something like this might help after you recoup your initial investment:

WattStopper Power Strip with occupancy sensor: TerraPass

(I'm not affiliated with them in any way.) I just turn mine off if I'm going to be out of the house for more than an hour and always turn it off before bedtime. Otherwise it's generally on all day long, except for days when I say 'enough w/the computer already and leave the sucker off for a day or two just to prove to myself that I'm not a computer addict!

[technochick]

I only shut down at night. My nephew, who is a computer programer, told me that shutting it down offen is where your computer can mess up. It is actually hard on it. He told me to just leave it on as much as possible. So, I always keep that in mind.