It’s quite common for people to leave their PCs running when they’re not in the office.

However, whilst this might seem convenient as you can boot up in a few seconds in the morning, there’s a number of reasons you should consider routinely turning your PCs off overnight. Here's the arguements from both sides of the coin -

Yes  Windows applications have a tendency to slow down machines, in some cases even after being closed, shutting down your computer will clear these issues.

Yes  If there is a power cut through the night you could lose your data if you don’t have a UPS.

Yes  You can save electric and money use a formula to see how much it costs to run your computer.

Yes  You could be paying for electricity even when your office is empty.

No  You could set it to hibernate to save power but reduce time spent re-booting.



So with the arguements in mind, lets take a look how much it costs to run your computer? To calculate your costs use this formula:


Watts  x  Hours Used   x  Cost per kilowatt-hour = Total Cost
           1000


For example, a typical 17” LCD uses 35 watts and a typical desktop computer uses 300 watts. On for 24 hours a day 7 days a week -


335 watts x 8736 hours year   x  £0.14 per Kw = £409.71
                 1000



On for 8 Hours a day 5 days a week -


335 watts x 2080 hours a year  x  £0.14 per Kw = £97.55
                 1000



So we can see that simply by switching off your desktop off at night and at weekends you could save £312.16 a year. Meaning whether you leave your computer on overnight is a serious question that could have quite an impact on your wallet.


These calculations are dependent on your computers specifications which can be found at their manufacturer website and the cost of your electric.