How much energy does a computer use if left on?

Question

I just want to know how much is being wasted. Give me an average

Answer 1

Place in sleep or standby.
It uses less electric that that required for turn off and start up cycle.
Actual electric use of a computer is insignificant (About $12.00 -17.00 a year depending on where you live).
In total energy it is significant if you are a business or university using thousands of computers.

In an article in The Chronicle of Higher Eucation its noted:
"Several colleges say they expect to realize significant energy-cost savings -- at the expense of minor inconvenience to computer users -- simply by enabling the power-saving "sleep" feature on computer monitors. Mills College, in Oakland, Calif., expects to save $10,000 this year by cutting the amount of energy that its monitors use. Even well-heeled Harvard University says it hopes to realize at least $15,000 a year in energy savings on 1,000 computer monitors used by students and faculty and staff members in the Kennedy School of Government."

Answer 2

"A conventional PC system is composed of the computer itself (the central processing unit or CPU), a monitor, and a printer. The CPU may require anywhere from 40 watts to 150 watts of electric power. A typical 14-inch color monitor uses at least 75 watts to 100 watts of power. The power requirements of conventional laser printers can be as much as 200 watts while printing and at least 50 watts just idling.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thus, a PC system can easily consume 300 watts of electricity an hour--the same amount of energy needed to operate three 100-watt light bulbs. The actual costs to you and the University depend on how we all operate our computer systems.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Consider the following scenario: a 300 watt PC system (a conservative amount for a CPU, monitor, and printer) that is continuously operating, 24 hours a day, every day. The annual electrical costs for this system would be over $200. If the same system were operated just 40 hours a week, the cost would only be about $50. If we consider a system operating at maximum wattage, about 600 watts, the cost savings would be twice as great."

Answer 3

A computer actually uses surprising little energy to run. It is a modern day piece of equipment and with each new model they may have more and more bells and whistles as far as progams, but they are built to use less and less energy. You will note that in later models you have batteries that last longer and are more efficent, thus proving that all computer companies as not energy hogs.
The strange thing about a lot of computers is that if you use them daily, and use them a lot,it pays to leave them on, or in the resting position vs turning them on and off. You use more energy turning on and off a computer then you do just leaving it on all the time. i know I leave my notebook on all the time and just wake it up when I want to use it. I turn it off when I am leaving the house and traveling. A lot of modern electronics have been built this way, they just don't draw the kind of energy used in older models. Companies know that it is better for the machines and the environment to make the machinery work this way. They also like to make things easier for the consumer. If one company does it they all have to do it, competition does help the consumer and the ecology.

Answer 4

A computer actually uses little energy to run. they are built to use less and less energy.
.
It pays to leave them on, or in the resting position vs turning them on and off. You use more energy turning on and off a computer then you do just leaving it on all the time. It is also better for the equipment to keep it on so that it reduces the wear and tear of on and off.

Answer 5

According to my electric company (JCPandL), a computer, on average, uses 600 Watts. This translates into $.07 per hour if the cost is $.11 kkWh (kilowatthour).

Answer 6

When fully on, I would guess the computer consumes about 100W-300W. It has to do with the type of CPU, chipset, monitor, etc.

I cannot think of why it would take much more power to turn on a computer than to keep it on. I think that's nonsense. It takes about a minute to turn on a computer. Even if it consumes 10 times the power during that time (which it doesn't), you break even by having it off for just ten minutes.

Of course, it consumes less when it's in various standby states (monitor off, hard drive off, standby, etc). I always use hibernate mode, which consumes 0W, and restarts exactly where you left off.

Answer 7

According to many techies it actually takes more energy to turn it on and off than to leave it running. This however depends greatly on how often you use it. If you are an everyday user this could possibly stand to be true but if you pop on once or twice a week you should be shutting it down when you're done.

Answer 8

I leave my computer on to charge my Ipod but i turn it off before going to work.If you have a conservation computer.Like the ones energy efficent mostly Gateway computers.But if you dont have a energy efficent computer then Just do what i do.Turn off your computer before going to work even if you dont have a Ipod.

Answer 9

something left on, or plugged in for that rely, whilst not in use is a huge waste of power. maximum each and every thing in my house is plugged into means strips, so whilst i'm not applying them, I purely turn the strip off. Its advantageous too, because of the fact i don't would desire to unplug and re-plug a million little issues, purely push a button. much less attempt and power saving.

Answer 10

In many cases, it is better to leave a computer on, because it takes up a lot more energy to turn on a computer than leave it on.