Really basic question- if I shut down the power strip to conserve energy

[hedgehog]

when I'm not using the computer, am I damaging the computer ? When I restore power, all the systems (monitor, mother board etc) fire up briefly and then shut down.

[Why Syzygy]

1. You should

shut down the computer and turn the monitor off before killing the power at the strip.

[hedgehog]

2. I do shut down everything, then kill the power strip at night. There seems

to be a micro burst when I turn the power strip back on in the morning and everything goes back into stand by. I just want to make sure I'm not going to burn something out with all the micro bursts.

This is in home office I share with my husband. I came in one night and it looked like Christmas with all the twinkling lights form units on stand by!

[Why Syzygy]

3. Someone else may have a different answer..

but I find that unusual.

[WePurrsevere]

4. Have you checked your energy savings on the computer?

Perhaps the settings were switched to hibernate or sleep mode so when you power back on it comes up in sleep/hibernate.

Also when you power down are you really turning it off or going to standby and then turning the switch off?

(Disclaimer: the above was something my techie DH came up with. :))

[Why Syzygy]

6. That's it..

I just noticed in OP's reply to my post, "everything goes back into stand by".
It isn't being SHUT DOWN.

[DainBramaged]

5. OK, I have never recommended turning the power off completely

Where I work, the computers stay on 24/7 365 days a year. Some are 6 years old. I have found through the years (since 1992) that computers I turn on and off regularly do not seem to last as long as those that stay on all the time. Completely turning off the power has never been proven to be a solution for extended life expectancy. And since when turned 'off' the wattage used is about the same as a 4 watt night light bulb, and the components stay 'warmed up' so I don't think it is worth the effort. You may want to invest in a battery back up so that the power is always constant and so that the computer isn't damaged by surges, brownouts and blackouts.

Just my expert opinion.

You can also try this wonderful bit of software I posted about quite a while ago, Edison puts you in control of your PC energy usage by letting you:

Set your schedule


Tell Edison when you use your computer most.

Save a little or a lot


Use the Edison efficiency slider to choose the level of energy savings you want to achieve.

See your savings


Edison will calculate your estimated savings based on the setting you choose.


http://www.verdiem.com/edison.aspx

[hunter]

7. Yeah, modern computers stay on all the time even when they are off.

There's no big black switch on the back like there used to be. That's because software takes the computer up and takes it down. Part of the system is always running simply to monitor things like the "power" switch, the various hibernation modes, and the modem and network connections for automatic startups, etc.

The computer and monitor I use for crunching videos and other heavy work draws 4 watts when it's off. I only shut if off by the power strip when I'm not going to be using it for a few days. I don't have any links to hard experimental evidence, but it does seem to me that frequent power cycles cause problems.

My regular computer is always on except when we are away on vacation but it's not such an energy hog as my number cruncher. It's basically a laptop motherboard in a box that draws very little power when it's sleeping. My LCD monitor seems to have similar laptop behaviors. My printer-scanner is the beast I worry most about. Its power-up dance is quite involved and noisy and almost alarming like an old floppy disk drive hammering its mechanical parts into alignment. I still haven't decided what to do with it. Sometimes I leave it on, sometimes I leave it off.

[Duer 157099]

8. Now for the other side

I turn my system(s) off every night via the power strip, and I've got some boxes that are 5+ years old and being used for 12+ hours per day every day, and shut down, every night. I've had to replace a power supply once, and no other hardware issues (that weren't of my own making).

Just fyi. ymmv

[Statistical]

9. If you turn off the computer components there is no need to cut off the power strip. n/t