Day 43: Turn Off the Computer at Night

I have been using my computer a bit more than usual lately so, I keep it on all the time, just in case I need to jump on really quickly. But, as I was looking for a Good Human Act to do for today I saw one that I should already be doing......turn off my computer at night! Yes, I have even been leaving it on overnight so I can save a few minutes in the morning while it gets all loaded :( I feel bad, we really try not to leave electricity running, we turn off all lights in rooms we are not in, but for some reason the last couple weeks I have not connected the obvious energy wasting dots of leaving the computer running to wasting electricity. So, starting today, no more computer running all day. I will try to only have it on for an hour or so a day and definitely will keep it off at night!!

Here is a little information on why it is beneficial to shut your computer down at night from US News:

As many as half of all office workers or families in America who use a PC don't shut it down at the end of the day - wasting $2.8 billion and 20 tons of CO2 per year, according to a recent study by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy. According to the survey, there's a litany of excuses not to: they forget, it takes too long, they allow their computer to automatically go to sleep, orit's company policy to leave it on. Here are five good reasons to turn your PC off each night:

1. It's good for your computer. Harvard University advises students to shut down every night to preserve the health of their computers, because leaving them powered up can result in heat stress and mechanical wear.
2. Shutting the computer down and powering it back up doesn't waste additional energy. Any energy used to shut down and start is more than offset by the period of time that the PC spends totally switched off.
3. Turning the computer off can save you or your company money. According to the study, a U.S. company with 10,000 PCs will waste $260,000 in energy throughout the year due to computers that are powered up when no one is using them.
4. It's one of the easiest things you can do to save energy. It only takes a few seconds each day, and if more people did it, the savings would be massive. The power required to run all one billion of the world's PCs for just one night is enough to power the Empire State Building inside and out for 30 years.
5.  PCs waste more than you'd think, especially for the many Americans who do not have an Energy Star computer. The IT industry generates two percent of the world's carbon emissions each year, and about 40 percent of that comes from PCs. The total annual waste is equivalent to that of nearly 44 million cars.

And here is a little guideline tip of when it is best to turn if off from the US Dept of Energy:

For energy savings and convenience, consider turning off

• the monitor if you aren't going to use your PC for more than 20 minutes
• both the CPU and monitor if you're not going to use your PC for more than 2 hours.