This is something that I have always wondered about. Greg of Wired Home Solutions wrote an interesting article about this in his latest newsletter. Visit Greg’s website at http://www.wiredhomesolutions.ca.
Not a week goes by when I am not asked the seemingly simple question of whether your computer should be turned off at night. The answer is not simple.
Personally, I am of the “Leave your computer on all the time” school. (I will make an exception if I am not going to use the computer for an extended period of time. If I’m going to be away for more than a few days, I will power it off for the time I am gone).
Those who advocate shutting it down every night usually have one main reason: It saves power. Well, true, it will save some electricity. But I do think the benefits of leaving it on all the time outweigh the little bit of hydro saved. And keep in mind, there is a difference between turning off your monitor, and actually shutting down your computer. By all means, turn off your monitor at night, or set up your Energy Star settings so that it powers itself down after a period of inactivity. Your monitor will use up quite a bit more power than your actual computer does, and there is virtually no benefit to leaving a monitor on all the time.
Something as simple as just leaving your computer on 24/7 can make your computing experience a heck of a lot easier, and actually extend the life of your computer. It’s worth considering.
On the side of “Leave it on”, there are three main things to consider:
1. Less wear and tear on your computer’s parts
2. Faster performance / no need to wait for computer to power up and get to full readiness
3. Better chance your computer’s maintenance programs, such as anti-virus or anti-spyware software will run regularly & not interfere with your work; and therefore, a healthier computer.
For a closer look at what goes on inside your computer during power-up read the rest of the article on our website.
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