It’s OK to turn off computers
Despite concerns that turning computers on and off is damaging to the system, many computer authorities agree it is OK to turn computers off when they are not in use in order to save energy.
“Turning a computer off when it will not be used for several hours is a good idea. It saves energy and protects against unauthorized access, either at the keyboard or via a network connection. Wear and tear are minimal compared to these other considerations,” said Bob Bayn, manager of academic user services in Computer Services at Utah State University.
Personal computers do not use as much energy as other appliances, like a television or a refrigerator, said Robert Wilkinson, tech manager at Discount Computers in Logan.
But if someone is concerned about conserving the energy use of his or her computer, three options should be considered.
First, the majority of newer systems (no older that 3 to 4 years) have a standby mode that cuts power use by about half, Wilkinson said. Standby works by putting the computer to “sleep” after a user-specified amount of time passes where the computer has been idle.
Second, because the monitor uses most of the energy in a system, computer users worried about rebooting could consider turning off the screen and leaving the system running, Wilkinson said.
“That’s what I do at home,” he said.
Most of the errors in a computer system do occur at start-up, so it is preferable to leave the system on.
That’s why the third option for saving energy (shutting the entire system down) is a concern.
“It [a start-up] is like a starter on a car. If it’s a cold start or a hard shutdown, it’s hard on the system. But unless it’s repeatedly on and off, like a child would do, it’s not something to worry about,” Wilkinson said.
The wear of turning on a computer doesn’t really matter in the long run, said Kevin Jolley, who works for the USU Computer Services help desk.
“A computer’s life span is 10 years, but it will be obsolete in three. So if you shave a month off [the computer’s] lifespan, nobody will notice. It will be at Deseret Industries by then,” Jolley said.