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Should I Ieave my computer on? |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 07 May 2007 00:00 |
Some of my customers often asked me the question: Should I leave my computer on or should I turn it off after I'm done using it?Well here are a few factors that you should consider before walking away from your computer: - Economy: An average computer will use about $1.50 of power a day (about $550 a year, based on Hydro Quebec stats)
- Risk of a power surge or spike, if your computer is always on then you certainly has more risk of getting some kind of variance on the line condition; you can completely avoid this using an UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply.
- Is your computer connected directly to the internet through a modem or a router? You have a higher risk being connected directly to a modem cable than if you are connected using a router. Routers usually have a firewall on the default configuration. If you are connected directly turn it off as soon as you are done using it.
- The life of your power supply depends on how many times you turn on your computer (Power Supply = ~ $50, life span ~ 4 years), the processor will cool off every time you turn it off and hot again when you turn it on, this will create some sort of thermal stress that will apply for all components of the computer.
- Dust collection: Computers are great dust collectors, the more fans they have the more dust they will collect. Dust can accumulate between the head sink and the processor fan until it will make it stop completely. This could lead to burn the processor.
- Wear out: Leaving the PC on all the time reduces thermal stress and hence prolongs system life; it also causes others components to wear out faster. This applies only to some of the components like the hard drive and Monitor. You can avoid this by turning off Hard Drive and Monitor after 20 minutes under Power Options at the control panel.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:17 |