You probably know that leaving your computer on wastes energy, but you may not realize that the screensaver mode still uses a great deal of power. The best way to save energy is to shut down, sleep or hibernate your computer when it is not in use.
Sleep mode uses very little energy and allows you to jump back in right where you left off. Hibernate mode, which was designed for laptops, uses even less power than sleep mode and just like sleep mode you may resume where you left off, just not as quickly. According to energystar.gov, you can save around $50 per computer by implementing this quick fix.
On the contrary, screensavers can end up using twice as much power and preventing your computer from entering sleep mode. If you still want to use a screensaver, be sure to set the “wait time” to end before your computer’s sleep mode kicks in.
To learn how to activate power management on your computer (or in layman’s terms “change to sleep or hibernate mode”), here are some illustrated instructions provided by energystar.gov.
Below is a chart to explain the difference in energy and money savings (information provided by energystar.gov):
|