Computers on or off?

[Eviltechie]

I turn my computer off every night before I go to bed, but I was wondering what the norm is?

Personally I can't sleep with the noise of the fans (my computer is in my bedroom).

[swoll1980]

I have 4 they are always on unless some update, or something forces me to restart them, or an outage like earlier today.

[FuturePilot]

My server is always on. I turn off my PC at night and lately I've been hibernating my laptop at night instead of turning it off.

[pbpersson]

I was wondering what the norm is?

Norm? Norm who? :o

I leave my computers on 24/7 because if I want to check the news or weather before I go to work I don't want to wait 5 minutes for it to boot up.

I am not the patient type ;)

[Skripka]

Off. I need to keep the electric bills down by any means possible.

[MikeTheC]

Off unless I'm doing something with them.

[kavon89]

My server is always on like FuturePilot (90 days so far), only reason that goes down is from a brownout or small outage.

I normally try to shut my laptop off, but sometimes I just have way too many things open so I just shut the monitors off for the night.

[OutOfReach]

Off, I just don't see a need for having them on all night. I can spare 30 seconds for it to boot in the morning.

Occasionally I leave it on, for example when I am downloading a new distro image. (Yes, I have slow internet).

[Grant A.]

I just find it a waste of valueable electricity to leave them on at night. If I'm not using them, why waste the electricity and force greenhouse gases into the air from overworked power plants?

Also: One of my computers has an ext2 partition on it, so I'd rather not risk an overnight power outage.

[swoll1980]

I just find it a waste of valueable electricity to leave them on at night. If I'm not using them, why waste the electricity and force greenhouse gases into the air from overworked power plants?

Also: One of my computers has an ext2 partition on it, so I'd rather not risk an overnight power outage.

Don't worry I waste enough electricity for both of us.

[LMP900]

Off. I need to keep the electric bills down by any means possible.

I voted "Yes, but in sleep mode" for a similar reason. I'm trying to get my computer usage down to only a few hours a day. Perhaps when I get a handheld internet device like the iPhone, it would be possible, since I can check email, weather, sports score, etc. without having to turn on the computer.

[sailthesea]

Off! Turn EVERYTHING off before you go to bed and then flip the circuit breaker If you have trouble sleeping try this
Its also amazing how many things you find that never got turned on again in the first place!
It's your energy bill!:D

[Polygon]

hibernate is an amazing thing.

[Grant A.]

Don't worry I waste enough electricity for both of us.

Ah, thank God! You have cleared my dirty concience. :D

[pdoma]

This is the age of saving electricity, so if your not using it turn it off and who knows maybe you'll even feel good about it.

[zmjjmz]

I leave my comps on running F@H, so it's not like I'm wasting electricity. My netbook is on in my room all the time, but it has no fans so I'm not bothered by it.

[Eviltechie]

hibernate is an amazing thing.

That's what I do sometimes, but only if I know I'll be in a rush in the morning.

Edit: Or is it suspend?

I always have my monitor and speakers off when I'm not using them though.

[kerry_s]

i use standby/suspend most of the time. it's now also my alarm clock, so on the days i work it has to be on to wake me in the mourning. ;)

[FuturePilot]

hibernate is an amazing thing.

Indeed it is :)

[Polygon]

too bad a combination of nvidia / wireless drivers ensures that no matter what computer i try, hibernate and suspend never work.

[adamlau]

Off, unless I am downloading something...

[Grukmuck]

i didnt vote because im somewhere in the middle of yes and no. sometimes i leave it on and sometimes i turn it off. it all depends on what im doing. there are instances where im in the middle of something and have to leave the house reall quick and i leave it on. there are other times where i get upset becuase something doesnt work and i just shut the damn thing off in a fit of rage and dont touch it for a while. then there are times where i want to check the weather before work and leave it on. if i leave it on and go to sleep the fans dont bother me because i have gotten used to sleeping through noise like music, fans or other irritating sounds. about 99% of the time i sleep with music on, and sometimes i like to have some kind of light on, nothing too terribly bright but something kind of like a night light. my ipod dock has an LED display that is almost too bright, but i have found that the light on my desktop is just right so sometimes i leave it on. like i said, it all depends on whats happening when i go to bed, or have to leave the house. lately, though, i have been leaving it on because i have been in the middle of something. it always seems to bounce back and forth.


-gruk

[Frak]

If I'm downloading something, no. Other than that, my computer pulls a LOT of power, so it's best to just turn it off.

[cardinals_fan]

No. I'm sleeping, busy, or out of the house from 9:30 PM to 3:00 PM during the week, a stretch of over 17 hours. Leaving it on would be madness.

[-grubby]

I leave all of my computers on all of the time.

[cmat]

My PC is always off when I'm not at it. I don't even put it on standby.

[JackieChan]

I used to turn it off every night, but this morning I broke my alarm clock, so I'm going to have to start leaving it on at night and it will serve as my alarm.

[t0p]

I switch 'em off unless there's a reason to leave 'em on. (And being too impatient to wait for a machine to boot is not a "reason".)

I'm gonna put on my eco-nazi hat and lecture you all: every minute you leave a machine switched on needlessly, a metric tonne of ice-cap melts. Leading directly to the death of penguins. If you love Linux and its inane mascot Tux, you'll switch your computer off whenever you're not actually looking at the screen.

I'm gonna go throw another Siberian tiger on the fire.. So I'll power down my computer, then switch it back on when I return, in 2 minutes. Seriously! ;)

[Kevbert]

I turn my computer off every night before I go to bed, but I was wondering what the norm is?

Personally I can't sleep with the noise of the fans (my computer is in my bedroom).

Off for same reason. With regards to reliability it's better to leave them switched on as any hardware failure is likely to occur when the PC is cold and first powered up. On the other hand if the PC is poorly ventilated then it may overheat and other failures could occur if left running for a long period of time.

[null.byte]

Yes, it is always on.

[Vince4Amy]

I used to leave it on, but now I turn it off at night and from the switches on the wall as well as I do all my electronic equipment, there's no point of it being on if it's not being used.

However it means that my VCR always flashes --:--, I'm not going to bother resetting it since it gets turned off every night, the autoset only works sometimes.

[lisati]

Off unless I'm doing something with them.

Ditto: I usually switch my laptop off at the wall as well.

[xpod]

I turn everything off at night,especially the computers,unless i`m downloading or encoding something on one of them.
We`re quite a large family so many of our plug sockets also have extensions plugged in with another 3 or 4 plugs in each and i`m weary enough as it is about leaving things on at night without worrying about those things melting too.....

[73ckn797]

Generally I leave them on. I break more wind and create enough green house gas on my own than leaving my computer on can generate.

[Eisenwinter]

Personally I can't sleep with the noise of the fans (my computer is in my bedroom).

I usually leave my computer on. It feels weird for me to sleep without hearing the "hummmm" sound :lolflag:

[kerry_s]

I used to turn it off every night, but this morning I broke my alarm clock, so I'm going to have to start leaving it on at night and it will serve as my alarm.

:lolflag:
thats exactly what i been doing for the last 2 days.
in my bios theres a power-on/wake-up time i haven't had a chance to try yet, don't know if it will wake my computer from suspend, going to try it tonight.

i use crontab(cron) and gnome-mplayer, how was you going to do yours?

[Naiki Muliaina]

Off for greenhouse reasons ^^ I even turn everything off at the wall too hehe

[pwnst*r]

never off.

[billgoldberg]

Not any more.

It's too loud, should it be silent it would be on 24/7.

[billgoldberg]

:lolflag:
thats exactly what i been doing for the last 2 days.
in my bios theres a power-on/wake-up time i haven't had a chance to try yet, don't know if it will wake my computer from suspend, going to try it tonight.

i use crontab(cron) and gnome-mplayer, how was you going to do yours?

When I need to do it I use a simple


sleep 8h && totem /file/to/music

But if you need it every morning a cron job makes more sense.

[Botbob89]

I used to, then one night I turned it off for some reason...suddenly noticed the lack of noise, and now can't go back to leaving it on.........

[Tmi]

I'm currently unemployed, so leaving it on during nights is just allready scarse money wasted.

When I get an income I'll keep it on through the night though. Before recently graduating I lived in a dorm where electricity was included in the rent, and I always ended up keeping the computer on just because I somehow find the humming from the fans soothing. It also makes outside noises drown more in the humming.

Predictable noise > random noise.

[OldGrey]

I always switch it off at night and mostly (I cannot claim perfection) when I am not using it during the day. I also make sure all the power points at the wall are switched off at night including the TV, DVD (unless recording) and the HiFi. If I am to be serious about reducing my contribution to global warming there is no other way, though I am sure that someone will say I can do better. If I need a new alarm I buy one, they're cheap, or use my mobile which only switches itself on when its time to wake me up.

[Onesimus]

I have four computers, correction five. If I had them all on 24/7 it would be similar to having a kettle boiling all day long !

I turn them off when they're not in use. Saves the planet and my bank account.

[kpatz]

There's no choice on the poll for "both". ;)

I shut my 'doze boxes off, but the 'buntu boxes stay on. They're all performing some sort of server duty - one's a firewall, one's a file server and one's my MythTV box, so that's why they stay on.

I plan on getting a kill-a-watt so I can see how much power my systems draw. And see how I can reduce it some.

[CrazyArcher]

I leave mine always on. Sometimes I put lots of stuff on download, so I have a legitimate reason, sometimes I just don't bother with turning it off.

[notwen]

Server is on 24/7 and my home PCs both stay on 24/7 unless I'll be away from home for extended periods of time.

[gn2]

Not any more.

It's too loud, should it be silent it would be on 24/7.

No reason why it should be loud, you can make it quiet.

www.silentpcreview.com

[Thelasko]

If I'm not using them, why waste the electricity and force greenhouse gases into the air from overworked power plants?

A) Powerplants aren't overworked at night. Peak demand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_demand) usually occurs during the day. In my area, it's usually at about 10 am.

B) Base load power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_load_power_plant) in my area is nuclear.

Although I am interested in shutting off my computer at night, it serves double duty as the home's file and print server. If I shut it off at night and forget to turn it back on the next morning, I will likely get a call the next day about someone not being able to access a file or print.

Other's in the home don't turn off their computers. I try to convince them to do so, but they always come up with some excuse.

I have my machine configured to spin down the drives and turn off the monitor when it's not in use. I tried to make it go into suspend or hibernate once, but it said it had issues. Can other's access files on the server while it's in suspend/hibernate?

P.S. My computer is also silent when it's running.

[Nevon]

I always leave my laptop on, and sleep/hybernate has never worked. It's quite cold here in Sweden, so it doesn't really matter if it's on or not - energy wise. Most of the energy comes out as heat anyway, so any money I use to keep the laptop on, I save in lowered heating costs.

[Messyhair42]

I leave mine on for three reasons. I find it eerily quiet without the fan noise, I run Prime 95 which benefits from havingit on all the time so i never have a wasted clock cycle, and i use abittorrent app and things just go faster at night.

[Botbob89]

While I understand why people do leave it on, especially considering I used to, if you actually think about it...you wouldn't do this with any other appliance. Unless you are doing something like downloading, whereby the computer NEEDS to be on, why keep it on?

Not having a go...just adding to the discussion :P

[Tristam Green]

I have four desktop machines. One that acts as the file server, which stays on all the time.

I shut two of them down and rarely turn them on, and I have one in sleep during the nights.

My laptop gets hibernated every night and restarted twice a week.

[Thelasko]

...if you actually think about it...you wouldn't do this with any other appliance.

Really? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standby_power) I better go unplug my fridge, it's just wasting power since I don't need milk right now.

Lot's of appliances stay on, even when you think you turned them off.

[Botbob89]

Really? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standby_power) I better go unplug my fridge, it's just wasting power since I don't need milk right now.

Lot's of appliances stay on, even when you think turned them off.
Yeah I realised I said that after I posted it and was waiting for someone to post it, hoping no one would notice the glaring inaccuracy :P

I MEANT to say appliances that are not in use on a near regular basis (such as a fridge)....

There...glad I corrected that one :P

[Zlatan]

I leave my netbooks charger in the office so I turn it off at night:) 2 laptops and 1 desktop are turned off too.

[aaaantoine]

Off. As of late, I occassionally suspend to RAM instead, because I discovered that this actually works (in KDE 4.2, that is).

[Dekkon]

On, it is always on, It hasen't been shut off for more then 2 days in the past 5 years, and I'm sure them times were just maintence.

Someone's gotta use all that energy you tree huggers are saving, might aswell be me.

[kidux]

My server stays on all the time, and I run Folding@Home on it, so even when I'm not using it, it's still being used.

[wolfen69]

i seed torrents of linux .iso's 24/7/365. so yes, i leave it on. plus, i find the hum of the fan soothing.

I find it eerily quiet without the fan noise
exactly. sometimes silence can be deafening. complete silence drives me crazy.

[sydbat]

I leave both on 24/7, unless we go away for an extended period (like 2 or more weeks - then I shut everything off...monitor, speakers, router, etc). Also, I find virtually no difference in power consumption if the boxes have been turned off for two weeks (or more) and leaving them on.

[kidux]

exactly. sometimes silence can be deafening. complete silence drives me crazy.
Agreed. Perhaps I've merely grown accustomed to the Antec 900's turbine engines running, lol!

[HermanAB]

ON!

I want to control the world!

Today the earth, tomorrow the universe!

[issih]

Mythbox is on all the time (for obvious reasons). laptop usually in sleep, anything else tends to be off. I need silence to sleep, a also seem to need it to be later than 3am, which is somewhat annoying.

[Dekkon]

exactly. sometimes silence can be deafening. complete silence drives me crazy.

This may sound weird, but I can't sleep without a box fan going. I don't care if it is Winter, I will point the fan the other direction and go back to sleep, I just grown accustomed to it.

[pdoma]

This may sound weird, but I can't sleep without a box fan going. I don't care if it is Winter, I will point the fan the other direction and go back to sleep, I just grown accustomed to it.

I can't sleep without my car's engine running, I park it in a garage and leave it running all night. Nothing better then a worm car in the morning, plus the soothing sound of that engine humming. :P

[JohnFH]

Mythbox is on all the time (for obvious reasons). laptop usually in sleep, anything else tends to be off. I need silence to sleep, a also seem to need it to be later than 3am, which is somewhat annoying.

All of that is true for me too, except the timing is 2am for me.

My MythBox also acts as my web server, so stays on all the time. I've estimated the monthly cost at about £10.

[Dr Small]

I run both my desktop and server around the clock for as long as is humanly possible. About the only times I reboot or shut them down is during a power outage (my battery backups won't last long enough) or during a upgrade/hardware failure.

[73ckn797]

I can't sleep without my car's engine running, I park it in a garage and leave it running all night. Nothing better then a worm car in the morning, plus the soothing sound of that engine humming. :P


WELL, if you want to stay warm then lay down by the exhaust pipe and feel the warm tropical breeze lulling you into the here-after. Cause hear-after you won't have to worry about the humming noise. GRIN!!:D

[lswest]

my laptop and PC are always off at night unless it's running something and isn't done yet when I go to bed, but I usually set up a delayed shutdown, merely because I can :P I don't mind the noise, nor do I mind the light from the LEDs, I just shut it off because I figure I might as well do my part (they are on a lot), and my laptop I turn off (don't suspend because it has resume issues), but I can't really complain about a 20-ish second boot time (to a usable desktop), I really can't say I mind turning it on and off. These both run ArchLinux by the way.

[blueshiftoverwatch]

I turn my computer off every night before I go to bed, but I was wondering what the norm is?
Mine usually gets turned off at night and when I'm going to be leaving the house for several hours.

This may sound weird, but I can't sleep without a box fan going. I don't care if it is Winter, I will point the fan the other direction and go back to sleep, I just grown accustomed to it.
Maybe you could find an audio file of a fan running and just play it in loop mode on your computer. You'd have to find a sound clip that has the same rhythm for the entire clip and not have any delays between when it ends and than begins again. Assuming that your computer is located in the same room that you sleep in.

[kk0sse54]

I always turn my computer off, since one it's right next to my bed so I can't fall asleep otherwise and two no sense in wasting electricity when I only use it for a certain period of time everyday.

[afm93]

I don't, because there's no need, when I'm done using it, I turn it off, it wastes power, it increases the electric bill and computer's aren't normally meant to stay on for so long.