Rock a Bye Computer on the Desktop…

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Computer

By Steve Ryan

Have you ever had trouble sleeping at night and the next day you feel drained?  Well, it may surprise you to learn that your computer may be experiencing insomnia as well.  In fact, it may not be getting any sleep at all resulting in a big energy drain.  While it may still perform with no problems, your electricity bill may not fare so well.

Did you know that you can save energy, help protect the environment, and shave up to $75 off your annual electric bill by activating the power management features on your computer? Get step by step instructions here to learn how easy it is to set your computer to automatically switch to sleep mode, which also allows it to run cooler and last longer.

You can shave the energy use of your laptop too, by activating your laptop’s system standby and hibernate features in the AC power profile—which will save power when the notebook is plugged into the wall.

I also recommend against using a screensaver when your computer monitor is not active (let it switch to sleep mode or turn the monitor off instead). Today’s monitors no longer need screen savers to help extend their life and certain screen savers can double a computer’s energy use.

If you really want to save some more energy (and looking for a potential raise), check to see if your office computer is going to sleep. Even if there are only 50 computers in your office, you could possibly save your employer up to $3,500 in annual energy costs by making the switch. Work for a bigger organization? General Electric activated the power management features on 75,000 computers and saved an estimated $2.5 million in one year.

But don’t feel like you have to save the whole world. Start at home and just take one simple step that will save you money and help the environment…helping you sleep better at night!

For more tips and information about computer power management, visit ENERGY STAR’s website.

About the author: Steve Ryan joined EPA’s ENERGY STAR program in 1999. He currently manages a national campaign to promote power management called “The Low Carbon IT Campaign.”  For more information and to get step by step instructions on how to put your computer into low power mode, go to http://www.energystar.gov/powermanagement.