Does anyone keep their PC on all night ?

[Grandad.Malky 11]

Turn it off,

 

However, here are some consumer "myths" that are worth addressing:

• Turning your PC off uses more energy than leaving it on. Not true. The small surge of power you use when turning it on -- which varies per PC make and model -- is still much smaller than the amount you use in keeping it on for lengthy periods.

• Turning your PC on and off wears it out. A decade ago, there was something to this, but not today, say Hershberg and others. It used to be that PC hard disks did not automatically park their heads when shut off, and that frequent on/off cycling could damage the hard disks. Today's PCs are designed to handle 40,000 on/off cycles before a failure, and that's a number you likely won't reach during the computer's five-to-seven-year life span.

• Screen savers save energy. Not true. Screen savers, at a minimum, can use 42 watts; those with 3D graphics can use as much as 114.5 watts, according to Don McCall, a Dell product marketing manager who does power measurement studies for the PC manufacturer. "It's absolutely wrong thinking that a screen saver will save energy," he says.

• Your computer uses zero energy when "off." That's true only if it is unplugged. Otherwise, the PC utilizes "flea power," or about 2.3 watts, to maintain local-area network connectivity, among other things, McCall says. In "hibernate" mode, your PC uses the same 2.3 watts; in "sleep" mode, your PC uses about 3.1 watts. Monitors do use zero energy when turned off.

 

 

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/technology/hardware/do_you_need_to_turn_off_your_pc_at_night.mspx

[Rich 12]

Monitors use over half the power in standby mode that they do when they're actually on- this is the same argument as turning tvs off at the set rather than leaving them on standby.

 

Also leaving your telly on standby overnight is a potential fire hazard, learned that after a visit to Magna about 3 years ago.

[sallonoroff 10]

One big file server, dual opteron processor with 8 disks, real power hungry. Two Sun Ultra 80's and an an Alpha 433au.

 

The firewall is pretty low power, A Soekris embedded routerboard, if that makes up for anything . My house mate has two servers also.

 

 

wow... i didn't think people had *that* much kit in their homes... and i always thought of myself as a geek! So naive...

 

 

 

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[alkatraz 10]

Two Sun Ultra 80's

 

And so what is it that is holding your floor up? I'm pretty sure concrete isn't enough...

[Joelc 10]

 

wow... i didn't think people had *that* much kit in their homes... and i always thought of myself as a geek! So naive...

 

.

 

I used to have a lot more: http://www.linuxmod.co.uk/misc/images/picKLE-cache/Room/dscn1066_640.jpg

 

Had that little lot running as a cluster for a while, but sold most of them off after I finished what I was doing. Computers are generally expensive as a hobby, from all angles. I know people who have a lot more kit in their houses. I moved a lot of my stuff into Telehouse and Redbus on more powerful kit, so I needed less at home. Plus I don't take on as much extra work as I used to, I just don't have the time with my new job.

 

Joel

[sugarcube 10]

I used to have a lot more: http://www.linuxmod.co.uk/misc/images/picKLE-cache/Room/dscn1066_640.jpg

 

Had that little lot running as a cluster for a while, but sold most of them off after I finished what I was doing. Computers are generally expensive as a hobby, from all angles. I know people who have a lot more kit in their houses. I moved a lot of my stuff into Telehouse and Redbus on more powerful kit, so I needed less at home. Plus I don't take on as much extra work as I used to, I just don't have the time with my new job.

 

Joel

 

haha bet you were never cold at night!