Is it okay to leave your computer on?

Is it safe to leave your computer on all day, every day?

The quick answer to this is: “Yes, it is safe to leave your desktop computer on all day,”
Notice the comma? Thinking about saying “Oh, got it.” and moving on to another page in the Internet? Wait just one minute! (An answer for laptops is further down as well)

Side Note: Some experts even argue that leaving your computer on is better for the computer, as you do not have to have a surge of power for the initial startup… spinning up the drives, fans, going through the technical boot sequences…

Desktops

If you plan to start leaving your computer on, consider these very important things:

First, a computer has fans inside of it. These fans constantly run, and speed up as the computer warms up. The biggest problem with leaving your computer running is the additional dust that you will collect, after all it is just going to keep sucking in the air, collecting much on the way.

Click here for more information about cleaning your computer and it’s components.

Second, be sure your monitor still shuts off after a reasonable period of time of inactivity. Older CRT (big TV-like) and plasma monitors will get “burn in” where an image is left on the screen after you clear the screen. For this reason, not only should you have a screensaver, but turning your monitor off will make the monitor itself last longer. Also, your monitor has a pretty good chance of using more energy then your computer itself.

Laptops

Laptops have a similar problem: Dust. But, here is another very commonly forgotten issue: Your laptop does not ventilate itself in the same way as your desktop. If you plan to leave your laptop on at all times, be sure it is on a flat surface. Also, laptop screens have this very strange habit of collecting dust, close the lid to reserve the lamp life of the backlight and to keep dust off.

Click here for laptop cleaning instructions

Energy Benefits

Ah, for those of you people concerned with saving people money:
Two newer computers, even three, inside your home will not make much difference at all in your power bill. Older computers (say, 2003 and before?) will use a considerable amount more because they do not have the power reservation technology included in modern PC’s.

If you are a large business with a few hundred computers, turning them off or having them go to sleep at night would be beneficial. Issuing a remote shutdown command (talk to your IT people) automatically at night on client computers when all employees are gone is an effective way of saving power. Then again, so is turning off the lights…

My little diddle:
Quite frankly, I live in an area with hydro-electric power, and I am not saving any animals by turning my computer off at night, our power is generated no matter what, and turning one computer off is not going to rescue the life of one fish. Turbines don’t really “slow down”, and we just over-generate power and don’t use what we don’t use. If you live in an area that does not use a green-friendly power source, you may feel that you have more obligation to put your computers into sleep mode at night. Ultimately, I can not make that decision for you (unless you are that sad and blindly follow all advice on the fallible Internet).