Greening Your Computer
This is a list of ways to become greener by changing small habits in the way you use and setup your computer at home or in the office. We try to write our tips in a light-hearted manner, but the energy savings are significant.
Turn off your Computer!
We're not sure how it happened, but at some point, people were given the impression that turning off their computers was a bad idea. Nothing could be further from the truth. Modern computers are designed to be shut down and their life expectancy is not harmed by shutdowns and startups. So, go ahead, turn off your computer when you are not using it. Even better, hook up your computer and its components (monitor, speakers, printer, etc) to one power bar that you can shut off completely.
So, next time you go to bed, leave the office for the weekend, or go to get some groceries, shut your computer down. Make the startup time for your computer part of your routine. Go ahead and get a coffee during that minute or two. You earned it for all the energy you are saving.
Use Sleep/Standby
A screen-saver does not reduce the amount of power a modern computer uses. In fact, a computer running a screen-saver can use more power than a computer that is not running anything. Screen-savers were originally designed to prevent burned pixels on CRT computer monitor. But, since the advent of LCD screens that never burn, they have become pretty useless.
Go into your screen-saver options and find the energy settings. Set your computer to go into stand-by or sleep mode after about 20 minutes. Do not worry, it only takes a couple of seconds to start back up and you will save more energy next time you leave your computer for lunch. Most computers use as little energy when in standby as when they are shut down completely.
Turn Down your Monitor's Brightness
We are assuming that most people have already made the move to LCD monitors. Even if you are still using a CRT, this still applies. This even applies to laptop users because turning down your brightness increases your battery life. The brightness of your screen directly relates to the amount of energy it uses. Ask yourself if you really need to have your monitor as bright as you do. You might find duller light and bright colours easier on your eyes as well.
Do Not Overcharge your notebook
Only plug in your notebook when you are using it or charging it up. Your notebook will use electricity from the wall socket even when it is already charged. Avoid plugging in your notebook overnight. Instead, figure out how long it takes your notebook to charge fully. This knowledge will allow you to plug it in for only as long as you need. Also, leave your AC adapter unplugged from the wall as it will use energy even if your notebook is not attached.
Maintain your Computer Properly
Keeping your operating system, virus/malware scanner, and other software updated and running properly can help you save energy. Computers running viruses or malware in the background slow down your computer because they are eating up your precious processor cycles. This makes your computer run more than it should need to. The amount of energy a computer uses directly relates to the amount of work it is doing, so a computer that is doing more than you want it to wastes energy.
Don't Run Programs you are Not Using
The more a computer is doing, the more energy it uses. Therefore, a computer that is doing more work than it needs to uses more energy than it needs to. Most programs not doing active work just sit in the RAM and may not use any energy at all, but why chance it? Save your work and turn off programs you are not using, whenever possible.
