just read this article on the bbc website and thought i should bring it to the attention of other mac users. it highlights the huge energy waste created by putting computers to sleep rather than turning them off. as the stability of OS X waking from sleep is one of the major bonuses of using a mac, i figure there's a lot of people reading this who use the sleep function a lot rather than switching their computer off. i know i'm very guilty of this practice and found myself feeling increasingly guilty as i read through the article- time for a change in the way i use my pb i feel, hope i'm not the only one...
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I use Sleep all the time, nothing to do with bragging rights, simply for the convenience. Similar reason I guess to people using their cars so much, even with petrol prices going up and up and up and up...
I actually switch the Slimdevice, TV, DVD, VCR and surround amp off at the mains at night, staying off during the day until we use them. These devices don't need to be in standby mode and 'boot' immediately for use.
Generally Laptop's (& the iMac) take a lot less power than old school Desktops, one of the reasons I like laptops.
Having said that my iMac days are numbered once the Intel PMac's are introduced, hoping they'll be much more power efficient than the current models.
I actually switch the Slimdevice, TV, DVD, VCR and surround amp off at the mains at night, staying off during the day until we use them. These devices don't need to be in standby mode and 'boot' immediately for use.
Generally Laptop's (& the iMac) take a lot less power than old school Desktops, one of the reasons I like laptops.
Having said that my iMac days are numbered once the Intel PMac's are introduced, hoping they'll be much more power efficient than the current models.
phantom loads draw 12% of total elecetricity supply in the US
if you live on solar power you know about phantom loads because they draw all your precious sunshine out and throw it away! in europe you can turn something off with a switch at the plug. as for "convenience" and "ease" - people have to wake-up (no pun intended) to the fact that we will have used 4 planets by 2050 at current rates of consumption, and the US leads that trend.
Dr.FDCS.
if you live on solar power you know about phantom loads because they draw all your precious sunshine out and throw it away! in europe you can turn something off with a switch at the plug. as for "convenience" and "ease" - people have to wake-up (no pun intended) to the fact that we will have used 4 planets by 2050 at current rates of consumption, and the US leads that trend.
Dr.FDCS.
iGav said:Pretty dim really... especially those that do it for OS X uptime bragging rights. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
LOL - gotta love those "going on holiday for a month - leave my Mac on or switch it off?" threads
if you're out for the day, going to bed and you don't have anything running - switch it off. Makes no sense to leave them on IMO.
cleugh said:
I miss the UK plugs with switches, but I've developed an alternative for the plugs in N.America - simply pull the plug out of the socket.
Danksi said:
Whilst I can understand and appreciate that Sleep is convenient in the day, especially if you're is beavering, I don't understand the need to leave a Mac on overnight if it's not carrying out some kind of task.... there's just no excuse to leave it on overnight, especially for the sake of a 30-60 second boot once a day, of which it can be scheduled to do automatically anyway.
Just doesn't make sense at all to me.
AlBDamned said:
I know... unbelievable aren't they... it's like the ones that brag, "My uptime's 6 months, I rule all" mentality...
really... what kind of non-lives do these people have?
At night it plays music for me.. i leave it on in the day.... perhaps i should start turning it off.. but it is very nice not to have to wait for a start up
I'll never understand why they don't have switches on the plugs in Nth. America etc.
I can't remember exactly how many exchange students came complaining to me that their stuff didn't work only to have me go in and flick the switch at the plug to "on." Surely it's much safer?
I can't remember exactly how many exchange students came complaining to me that their stuff didn't work only to have me go in and flick the switch at the plug to "on." Surely it's much safer?
My powermac is normally doing stuff at night so it is almost always on.
And well i go to sleep at weird times and wake up at odd times so my powerbook is normally on all the time, cause i am almost always online.
And well i go to sleep at weird times and wake up at odd times so my powerbook is normally on all the time, cause i am almost always online.
iGav said:
You're right, I'm being lazy.
I'll make a point of switching everything off at night like I used to (it's just one button on the UPS to shutdown down everything anyway!) - will be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes to our elec. bill
Ergh. Yikes.
Egads, I feel so horrible now. I absolutely never knew that not turning them off used so much energy. I'll probably feel guilty for..... a really long time now.
So, my question: I'll start turning it off at night, but is it worth it to turn it off during the day?? A lot of times, since I only ever use my computer at home, I'll just go off to do something else for about 30-45min. and then come back to use the comp for a bit. So.... is it worth it to turn my computer off then??
I never knew it took up SO MUCH POWER. I feel so horrid.
But I guess my iMac generally takes up less power than PCs do, riiight??
EDIT: I think I'll start turning it off when I'm away for more than 15 or perhaps 30 minutes. I just read the full article...
Egads, I feel so horrible now. I absolutely never knew that not turning them off used so much energy.
I'll probably feel guilty for..... a really long time now.So, my question: I'll start turning it off at night, but is it worth it to turn it off during the day?? A lot of times, since I only ever use my computer at home, I'll just go off to do something else for about 30-45min. and then come back to use the comp for a bit. So.... is it worth it to turn my computer off then??
I never knew it took up SO MUCH POWER. I feel so horrid.
But I guess my iMac generally takes up less power than PCs do, riiight??
EDIT: I think I'll start turning it off when I'm away for more than 15 or perhaps 30 minutes. I just read the full article...
Chundles said:
Because 110 volt plugs are quite a bit smaller than 220 volt plugs?
Most of these devices are plugged into a power strip anyway, which usually have a switch. So they are easy to turn off, if that's what you want. Also, if the plug is a transformer brick (probably the worst phantom power usage offenders), then plugging them into a strip is the only way to get them to stop drawing current.
amateurmacfreak said:
I doubt this is worthwhile, even if the time required to reboot is factored in. The hard drive is running at full tilt during the entire boot process, drawing more power than normal. Then you have to spend time recreating where you were before you shut down. During this entire unproductive interval, the computer is drawing power and the display is on. Where's the tradeoff? Who knows, but not 15 minutes I'd guess.
Yeah, I was starting to think about that too....... so maybe if I'm away for an hour??IJ Reilly said:
This will actually be helpful for me as far as getting to places on time, b/c I will turn off my comp at night and won't want to reboot it in the morning so then I won't spend time on the computer in the morning so then I will get to school more early.
It's generally a 5-10 or 11ish interval when I need to leave my computer on.... I don't use it for all that time of course, but I generally use it probs at least a bit then every one and a half hours...... so should I just leave it on for that time, off for all the rest of the time??
Beats me. I think it has a lot to do with how much power the Mac draws in sleep mode. Does Apple publish these numbers?
I don't think this article changed my mind about sleeping my Mac during the day, but I might reconsider whether it makes sense to shut it down overnight and have it restart automatically in the morning.
Incidentally, setting the Energy Saver control panel to automatically sleep the Mac on a fairly aggressive schedule (10-15 minutes?) might save you more electricity than shutting it down frequently. Likewise, getting in the habit of sleeping it every time you step away from your desk.
I don't think this article changed my mind about sleeping my Mac during the day, but I might reconsider whether it makes sense to shut it down overnight and have it restart automatically in the morning.
Incidentally, setting the Energy Saver control panel to automatically sleep the Mac on a fairly aggressive schedule (10-15 minutes?) might save you more electricity than shutting it down frequently. Likewise, getting in the habit of sleeping it every time you step away from your desk.
I sleep it every time I go away for a bit. I think I'll still sleep it from 5-11 (when I primarily use my computer) and shut it down other times... and on weekends if I'm going out for 3-4 hours or more I'll probs shut it off.....IJ Reilly said:
And as far as sleep setting go, I have the monitor go off after 1min... the computer totally sleep after 10min. or something.
I hate it, all the teachers @ our school have screen saver.
I was going to change it for my science teacher who's totally cool and trusts me to do stuff w/ his new iMac (as most of my teachers do trust me w/ the comps not to look @ other kids grades or something I shouldn't and not to mess things up...) but I couldn't b/c I needed the admin password since it was looked on a screensaver and my teacher had to teach another class and I had to rush off to a class across campus.... so he still has a screensaver, ugh.