We often leave out computers on at full power even though we are away. With rising oil prices and electricity costs, it is time we are more aware on how to save energy on our computers.

It is important to buy energy star complient computers as they use less energy.

Power management allows ideling computers to enter low-power states. The monitoe shuts itself off, the CPU reduces its comsumption of power and the hard disk spins slower thereby saving energy, kind of like putting the computer to sleep. Remember to set your computer to power saving mode. You can turn this function on in windows XP by going to :control panal--->Display--->Screen Saver--->Power and adjust the settings according to your needs.

Also remember, if you are going to be away for a long time to either allow your computer to hybernate, or at least turn off the monitor.

Nice tips. It is true that we have to conserve energy now!

We have to do this for our future and the future generation's future.

well, my monitor shut down automatically after 20 minutes. it's an energy star. but the cpu stays on and i don't know if it really save the electricity. there are also options of stand by and hibernate but i don't use it. also i close my computer at night.

I broke my computer power management , but as it is a laptop, when I am away from it I close the lid, which is easy to do and causes the computer to go onto standby. My desktop is rigged up to go onto standby after 10 minutes of no-one using it.

For one, the amount of energy most computers use is quite minimal if you are saying that you would save a good amount of money by turning it off at night. For one, most computers will automatically turn off the monitor after a short period of time and many also turn off the hard drive which is one of the larger power consumption parts in a pc.

I found a really interesting article about how much watts the pc consumes here : http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/computers.html

First of all, in the long run writing/saying that "the amount of energy most computers use is quite minimal" is wrong....In a large scale (we're not talking only about your computer) the numbers are quite *massive*.

Unfortunately, I for one, cannot close the computer because of my work etc etc...

I also have broken the power management on my computer (also the thing that controls screen brightness ). As it is a laptop, it is fairly easy just to shut the lid and put it onto standby whenever I am not using it.

My desktop shut down the screen after 5 minutes, and went onto standby after 10. The problem is my sisters now have it, and they leave it running when games are playing, which disabled the power options