[LINK] Leave on, or turn off?

[Linda Rouse]

A few items that Google found  - seems the main advantage is the 
energy saving and reduction of CO2 rather than any other reason... 
and sleep mode is almost as good as turning it off with regard to 
power use.

1. 
http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/wired-and-woolly-tales/2006/11/18/1163266828959.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
scroll down to section 3. Turning computers off and on harms them

This is based on the idea that the surge of power when you turn the 
machine on is bad for the components.

However, while this may have been true for older machines it is 
certainly not the case for modern computers and monitors. In fact, 
leaving computers and monitors powered up can waste a lot of energy.

About five years ago the University of NSW conducted an audit of 
computer users' habits and found 43 per cent of the machines at the 
Kensington campus were left switched on overnight. As part of a 
campaign to encourage users to switch off unused machines, 
researchers contacted major computer manufacturers, all of whom said 
there was no risk to the components in turning off the machines 
regularly.

Simply hitting the off switch when machines aren't in use can also 
prevent a lot of greenhouse gases.

2. 
http://news.com.com/Companies+urged+to+switch+PCs+off/2100-1022_3-5910665.html
Companies urged to switch PCs off
Computers left on overnight for no good reason are costing U.K. 
companies millions of pounds every year.
By Graeme Wearden
Special to CNET News.com
Published: October 24, 2005, 7:54 AM PDT
Companies should encourage employees to switch off PCs at night or 
continue wasting money and energy, according to research by Fujitsu 
Siemens.

In a report released on Monday, the PC maker claimed that about $217 
million (123 million pounds) is wasted every year in the U.K. alone 
powering PCs that could have been shut down or left in hibernation 
mode. The report also pointed out the environmental impact of all the 
wasted energy.

Fujitsu Siemens surveyed 1,000 employees and found that some 370 
never turned off their computers before leaving the office for the 
day.

"U.K. businesses need to consider both the financial and 
environmental implications of leaving a computer running and make 
turning off their PCs each night a policy," said Garry Owen, head of 
product marketing at Fujitsu Siemens Computers, who added that simply 
putting a computer into standby means it still is consuming power.
....<snip>


and
http://www.recyclingadvocates.org/newsletter/may2002.htm

An older article but has some interesting figures eg the amount of 
power it consumes depends on the devices that are operating (i.e., 
hard drive, CD Rom drive, floppy drive, cooling fan, CPU, power 
supply, screen, etc.). The average computer (CPU and 15" monitor) 
consumes power at about 110 to 150 watts per hour, dropping to as low 
as 5 watts per hour in suspend mode, and rising to as high as 250 
watts with all of the devices operating at the same time.

Linda
-- 
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Linda Rouse, Information Manager
DataBasics Pty Limited
Phone 1300 886 238 (bus.) Mob: 0412 40 7778
Email linda at databasics.com.au
Web http://www.databasics.com.au