Leave on, hibernate, or standby

debo_2006

16 years ago

I've always leave my computer on 24/7 because I "heard" that this is best. Now, I'm wondering if it is better to use the hibernation mode, or put it in standby after 15 minutes of non-use, or just turn it off at night?

Also, please explain the difference of hibernation vs. standby.

Thanks.

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Comments (9)

mikie_gw
16 years ago
Generally Hibernate writes everything you're running to the hard drive then shuts the computer off... next start its back at the same spot as when you went into hibernate. Takes a bit of time to start, but usually faster than a whole fresh boot.

Standby can be handled slightly different ways but generally it writes everything to RAM memory then shuts the computer off but keeps voltage supplied to the ram to hold things in the memory. When you wake it up it nearly instantly is back to where it was when you went into standby.... some computers will also duplicate the standby data to the hard drive hibernate space incase of power failure.
mikie_gw
16 years ago
Curious what software..xp?
and type of computer desktop?

Its not a good thing heating up motherboards and then cooling them down, over and over. So it kind of depends on your useage habits.
You might want to blank your monitor after 30 - 45 minutes of non use ...and move into standby or hibernate after an hour or maybe two if you feel you're not likely to use it for a few hours.
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goldy- Are you referring to leaving your computer/monitor fully on all night to get that number? If you have your power options set to standby or hibernate after X minutes of inactivity, the computer uses very little energy -- in the range of 3-6 W per hour. But if you leave it fully on when you're not around you do waste a lot. Here's what I come up with for costs. To make the numbers easy, lets say that the average computer uses 4 W in standby mode, which would be about 100 W per day, or 3 kWh per month. At 12 cents per kWh, that's about 36 cents a month, or less than $5 per year. Now of course, if you leave on your peripherals, like your printer all the time, you're unnecessarily wasting more energy, so it's a good idea to think about what you do with those when you aren't using them. I'm not arguing that you shouldn't turn your computer off if you want to. However, in our house the computer gets used intermittently from first thing in the morning to after midnight, so I leave mine on all the time with the appropriate energy saving options invoked. In addition, since I live in the Pacific NW where home heating is required for more than half the year, the little extra heat generated during those months by my computer on standby simply means that the furnace doesn't have to provide quite as much heat! Here is a very interesting short article that discusses this issue: Here is a link that might be useful: Saving electricity
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hobby_libby- The average computer may typically use about as much energy as a 100 watt bulb...more if it's really high-powered, less if not, and you'll generally use less overall if you are talking about a laptap rather than a traditional computer with stand alone monitor. An LCD monitor fully on (or with a screensaver) might use about 50 watts. So if your computer and an LCD monitor are fully on 10 hours a day, you're talking about using 1.5 kWhr. The cost for a single kWhr is maybe 10-15 cents in many parts of the country, so your total energy cost to have a computer and monitor on for 10 hours a day might be about 20 cents. Now if you decide to have no screensaver AND have it go into sleepmode when you are not using it, you could save at least 15 cents a day, or maybe $50 a year...if you have air conditioning going year-round. However, during the heating months, the heat energy thrown off by the computer goes to heat your home and the furnace has to provide a little less heat, so you get little benefit there. And, of course if you actually have the computer in use, then your savings will be proportionally less. Bottomline: if you put your computer in sleep mode, with the screen off, and you don't use the computer much, you'll save enough each month to buy one extra latte at Starbucks. Don't get me wrong. Saving energy and money is a good thing, and I'm not trying to discourage you. I was just making the point that you are not going to see the massive savings you might have expected. If you want to understand where the electricity really gets eaten up in your home, and how to conserve so you can reduce your bill in a noticeable way, check out the link below. At the bottom of the linked page there is lots of good info on things you can do, and how much different things in your home account for in the overall energy picture. Here is a link that might be useful: Electric use
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caroline1947
16 years ago
I was wondering this too. I leave mine on all day but shut down at night. Also, what about screen savers??? Do we need them???
mikie_gw
16 years ago
I hate screensavers... but do 'blank screen' at 30 minutes with power management, then sleep after 1 hour - On my laptop.
Blanking the screen saves about 5 watts on it, and sleeping saves about another additional 15 watts. I'm forever trying to save on the power bill.
It only shows using 1 watt when its in sleep mode and wakes up in about 4 seconds. I'd like to hibernate because then its not consuming anything, but it takes too long to shake off the acorn husks and get going.
debo_2006
Original Author
16 years ago
Mikie:

I'm using XP on a Dell Dimension 8200. As for frequency of use, I refer to the computer all throughout the weekend days (probably every 2-3 hours or so when I'm home) and use it all day during the week for business and bullsh*t stuff at night.

I didn't even think of the heating up then cooling down issue and the beating that could take with hibernate and standby. So, is it best then to keep it on all day, and just turn it off at night?

Thanks everyone.
DA_Mccoy
16 years ago
I did an experiment with my HP P3 out in the garage and left it on 24 hours a day for 30 days. Then I turned it off when not in use, which is more the case, for 30 days. My electrical bill was not quite $3.00 more with the system left on.

Screen savers besides providing individuality and "cuteness" were originally dedicated for CRT monitors as a means of preventing screen burn. With the newer generation flat screen monitors today, I haven't heard or read anything about that concern.

I use to turn off my old Win98 system at night as a daily reboot was required for it to remain stable. With this Vista it is on all the time.

A protocol does have to be developed regarding shutdown and bad weather. Living out in rural America anytime there is a forecast of thunderstorms I turn my system off and unplug the power and particularly my DUN modem. Of course that is another whole topic which has been chewed on here at the forum before.

DA
mikie_gw
16 years ago
My desktop and its monitor and ups, sitting with the screen blanked and doing basicly nothing is using 130 watts. \ Thats about 94kwh per month. Or about $13 monthly on the power bill.

I used it as network storage, time and file server, mostly just the local network support and very light personal www server .... Which I've learned to do without now, to save those KWH's.
~ My desktops sony 19 inch CRT monitor when blanked will keep the electronics powered in its energy savings mode and consume maybe 5watts, when a screen saver running its sucking its normal current of around 100watts.
urlee
16 years ago
I am not going to say what I do cause then I may start having trouble after all these years. You can guess what I do. ("more than once a day")

I do find if I leave my computer for awhile like Â½ to 1 hour, it does not work as well when I wake it up.
It is like it did not wake up fully. Too slow compared to if I didn't leave it at all.
It is best to reboot it opposed to the 24/7.
jane__ny
16 years ago
urlee, I think I'm with you. I shut them all down at night and during the day when I'm away. I've had problems in the past with power failures and lightning. I don't take any chances anymore when I'm not around.

I've never lost a computer to 'on & off.' I have to lightning although the strike hit the cable on the street and blew up all our tv 's. Luckily I had disconnected the computers - forgot the tv's.

Jane

Leave on, hibernate, or standby

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Leave on, hibernate, or standby

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