[LINK] Leave on, or turn off?

[Ivan Trundle]

Okay, Stewart - I see where you're coming from now.

I've read numerous articles in the past few days on imploring people  
to either turn off their PCs, or to at the very least, let them go  
into sleep mode, when not in use - either through software (plug-ins  
to Vista, for example), or through initiatives such as LocalCooling.

Al Gore isn't entirely responsible, but there is growing concern over  
the amount of energy consumed by electrical items in their resting  
state, or when purportedly 'off' (either in standby, or using trickle  
power into transformers).

Local Cooling
http://www.localcooling.com/ (Win XP only)

Global Energy Demand - McKinsey Report (29 Nov 2006)
http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/Global_Energy_Demand/index.asp

Carbon-Free Computing
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/carbon_free_com_1.php

Energy news and low-wattage computers forum
http://www.thewatt.com/article1250.html

Warmly

iT


On 30/11/2006, at 7:58 PM, Darryl ((Dassa)) Lynch wrote:

> link-bounces at anumail0.anu.edu.au wrote:
>>> Stewart Fist wrote:
>>>> Has anyone got a reference to a real bit of reliable research which
>>>> says whether it is better to turn a computer off at night, or leave
>>>> it on 24/7 (disregarding energy consumption) ?
>>>>
>>>> I guess the question resolves into
>>>> a) the electronics, and
>>>> b) hard-disk-bearing wear.
>>>>
>>>> I've got plenty of so-called 'expert' opinion (mostly in favour of
>>>> leaving computers on), but this seems essentially to be anecdotal
>>>> only.
>>>
>>> Anecdotally, my experience is that those machines which give
>>> more trouble are those which are subjected to thermal shock
>>> mostly be being regularly tuned off and on, which usually
>>> causes memory modules or PCI card connection to become random.
>>>
>>> Economically you need to offset the cost of the occasional
>>> service to rectify such faults against the cost or 24/7 operation.
>>>
>>> My money says, leave it on, but turn the CRT off - I've seen
>>> them catch fire.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Someone, at some time (ie US government departments or the army)
>>>> must have done a systematic test, surely!
>
>
> I've always found it best to have systems running all the time, it  
> is only
> when you turn them off they will usually fail to start again.  It  
> is rare
> for a system to totally fail when it is running but the minute you  
> shut an
> old system down to move it or to do an upgrade you will find they  
> will fail
> to start and it will cost you a day to get them going again :).
>
> I totally agree with turning the monitors off.  I tend to turn off  
> the power
> down features of hard drives and other devices but given the  
> improvements in
> that area I feel it is now possible to trust them more and allow  
> the power
> down features if you are concerned with wear and power consumption.
>
> Let's face it, you can leave a computer running flat out for a few  
> years
> 24x7 and the real problem will be the equipment becoming obsolete  
> rather
> than wearing out.
>
> Darryl (Dassa) Lynch
>
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--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742
skype: callto://ivanovitchk