It is no secret that computers have become very popular and a necessity to many people. We
use computers for various things; in fact, you are using your computer to view this article right now! One thing that most of us forget is that our computers actually use up quite a bit of energy. An average desktop uses about 60-250 watts! Now multiply this number by a week, or a month and even a year, it goes to quite a large number and what’s even worse is that electricity prices have been increased in Kenya and possibly in other places around the world. This article shall contain information on saving energy on your computer and help you reduce your electricity bill.
A question frequently asked is whether screensavers actually save energy. Many people believe that when your computers screensaver is running then you are saving energy. This is incorrect. A screensaver actually uses more energy than when the computer is on normal mode. A screensaver shows an image or a phrase on your screen and so does not save any energy. Less energy is used only when your computer goes dark.
The first way to save energy on your computer is to reduce the brightness. Some laptops are usually set on full brightness making it easier to see the screen in darkness. However, this increase in brightness uses more energy. Therefore, it would be advisable to reduce the brightness permanently or keep alternating it and only set it on full brightness when needed.
Another way is to make use of the power saving features available on your computer. Most of these features can turn your computer into idle mode when not in use. You can set your own time for it to occur such as when the computer it not used for 5 minutes or so. Idle mode consumes way less energy, between 20 to 50 times less. Although setting a short time for it to go into idle mode will save more energy, it may affect your work so be careful on the time you set.
As mentioned before, screensavers don’t save energy. Therefore, an alternative would to shut off the monitor of your desktop or close the laptop lid. This saves quite a lot of energy. Most people now would leave their laptop on instead of switching it off due to the time it takes to start up. Although it is not advisable to leave the laptop or computer for long periods of time, it is sometimes necessary so be sure to switch off the monitor or close the laptop lid. Also, most people like to set their computers on standby mode, this still uses energy so it is much better to just switch off the monitor.
The final way to save some energy on your computer is to share resources between computers. Hardware devices such as printers and scanners use quite a bit of energy. Therefore, instead of each computer in your house or at work having its own printer and scanner, set them up to all use the same printer. You will not only be saving energy, but also costs on buying the hardware devices.
The table below was acquired from: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/computers.html, it basically shows you how much energy certain types of computers use.
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