Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org.
QUESTION: I recently went wireless with two computers and a printer. I was told to NEVER turn off the printer, router or modem. My question is why? If this is so, why am I allowed to turn off the computers with no ill effect? This equipment is consuming a large amount of electricity.
PC CLUB: I’m often asked if you should turn off my PC or other equipment when not in use. First of all, turning your PC on and off does not wear it out. Any damage done by doing this will not cause parts to wear out before the PC becomes obsolete. However, if you don’t turn off your PC, it’s important to set up your PC so that it goes to sleep (Standby) or Hibernates after some period of idleness to conserve energy. This period depends on your computing habits. I have my PC set up to go to sleep after 30 minutes of being idle. It should be pointed out, however, that all PC’s should be cycled off and on periodically to let Windows catch its breath.
Here are some power numbers from my setup to help you decide.
Desktop PC tower only, 180 watts
- Two printers left in the On position 6.5 watts each
- A cable modem and router 9 watts
- One USB hub 4.7 watts
- Two external hard drives that are normally off, 9 and 14 watts when turned on
- A wireless keyboard and mouse 0 watts
- Speakers left in the On position 5 watts
- 24 inch LCD monitor 31 watts when on and 0 watts in standby
- The entire setup when on is 236 watts
- Everything but the PC and monitor on is 25 watts
- Everything but the PC and monitor on plus the PC in Standby 26 watts (Standby power for PC is negligible, less than 1 watt)
Assuming that the PC is on 6 hours a day and in Standby 18 hours, the average power is 79 watts. With the cost per KWH at $.15 (use your own rate here), this cost is less than $10 per month. If everything were turned off at night, the cost would be reduced by $2.95 per month. If just the PC would be turned off every night, the savings would be pennies per month.
I recommend leaving the modem and router on 24/7 since it costs less than $1 per month. Leaving a printer on 24/7 costs me half that much. The only time I turn my printers off is while traveling. My router and modem are only turned off to reset them when troubleshooting a problem.
There are many theories regarding leaving your PC on. In my case, as stated above, I have my PC set up to go into sleep mode when unattended for 30 minutes. I do turn off and restart my PC at least once a week since the Windows operating system needs to be refreshed periodically.
If you are really curious about how much power your equipment consumes you can purchase a wattmeter for approximately $100 at Fry’s Electronics or $30 at Radio Shack. I use the Radio Shack Kill a Watt power meter, see http://bit.ly/killawatt, and measured 2.5 KWH (Kilowatt Hours) over a 24-hour period. This computes to less than $10 per month for my entire PC setup. It surprised me to find out that one of my printers, an HP 6310 uses 9 watts when turned on and 6.5 watts by just being plugged in. Turning it off would save $0.21 per month and unplugging it would save $1 per month. Who woudda thought? The most frugal setup is to plug all equipment into a power strip and turn it off when not in use.
Also, whoever told you never to turn off any equipment is dead wrong. You have the complete freedom to turn off any and all equipment at your own discretion. Let your conscience be your guide in regard to the environment and your wallet. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.