Do you leave your computer running?

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by clusteringflux, Feb 28, 2008.

?

Is it better to leave computers running?

  1. yes

    17 vote(s)
    50.0%
  2. no

    17 vote(s)
    50.0%
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  1. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    714
    you think computers have built-in power conditioning?... this is nonsense...

    anyway... nonsense aside...

    what i posted above is accurate... applying power is hard on a computer... or any electrical device...
     
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  3. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    4,924
    Umm, listen... turn off your PC, there's no difference in keeping it on as oppose to off except that you save energy and don't waste resources, I mean why would you keep it on all the time it's ridiculous!
     
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  5. s0meguy Worship me or suffer eternally Valued Senior Member

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    1,635
    ... Because I'm too lazy to turn it off. Blame the hardware manufacturers for making the pc so silent, I used to turn it off because of the noise.
     
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  7. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    10,342
    I leave all of mine on. I work in IT, and know first hand that many failures of equipment happen during boot up, so leaving kit running is best for longevity.

    As for power consumption and the environemt, I don't give a rats. My laptops power save when they are idle, and my server, well is a server. Anyway, I work from home, so lower my carbon emissions, as I don't commute.

    Estimates of energy saving are always overblown, btw, because they fail to consider seasonal changes. In winter, you heat your property, and your computer emits heat, and has a BTU value. So basically, in winter, leaving your computer on heats your property, and lessens the effort that your heating does. There is only therefore an impact in summer, and as I don't have aircon, it's not a double whammy.
     
  8. RubiksMaster Real eyes realize real lies Registered Senior Member

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    By a very tiny, negligible amount that wouldn't affect the amount of energy you expend through your regular heater.
     
  9. phlogistician Banned Banned

    Messages:
    10,342

    What's the rating of your PSU? 200w? 500w? As domestic heaters are around 3Kw, 500w is somewhat significant.
     
  10. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    4,832
    What are you using? An ENIAC?
     
  11. clusteringflux Version 1. OH! Valued Senior Member

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    2,766
    Funny thing but he's right. I have two computers in my office as well is the thermostat that controls all the offices climate. I'm convinced that is the reason my office is toasty and everyone else freezes. Monitors also throw some heat.
     
  12. RubiksMaster Real eyes realize real lies Registered Senior Member

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    1,646
    Mine is 500W. You're saying that if I stacked up 6 of my computer, I would be heating my house as much as my heater does?

    The point is almost irrelevant anyway, because even if my computer did manage to raise the temperature of my house another half degree, that's probably below the threshold for my thermostat, so it wouldn't end up saving any energy in the long run.
     
  13. Red Devil Born Again Athiest Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,996
    switch off, always
     
  14. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,955
    I leave both of my computers running 24/7 because I run Folding at Home, a distributed computing project. I encourage others to do the same.
     
  15. RubiksMaster Real eyes realize real lies Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,646
    I ran it for a while, but it ate my CPU cycles like crazy. Granted, it's during idle time, but I have such a bad heatsink and fan it made it too loud to sleep. It sounds like a 747 taking off.
     
  16. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    10,342

    No, the point is relevant, all you need to do is learn some basic calorimetry, thermostats use hysteresis, so the half degree is relevant.

    And yes, if you stacked six, the output would be the same as a domestic one room heater. This is why when we rack our servers, we pay attention to airflow, add up the combined BTU output of the servers, and make sure that the aircon can deal with it. I've had servers fail when the aircon fails, and the damned things got baked.
     
  17. RubiksMaster Real eyes realize real lies Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,646
    Yes, I know that thermostats have hysteresis, but my thermostat is so old that the threshold is quite wide, and it's not a perfect hysteresis. That half degree may or may not trigger the thermostat, because it depends on external factors that are working on the degraded temperature-sensing coil.

    If what you're saying is true, I should notice a decrease in my heating bill if I were to leave my computer on in the winter. This hasn't been true in my experience, because there are too many other factors to consider. Thus, I still don't believe a single computer has a significant effect.Thus
     
  18. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    You can adjust the cycle time even in an old thermostat. Desktop computers are usually 300 to 500 watt CPU and 75 watt for a large CRT monitor. So, that may not be enough when temperature outside is 20F, but every little bit helps....

    I usually use fluorescent bulbs in summer and incandescent bulbs in winter for light.
     
  19. Echo3Romeo One man wolfpack Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,196
    There is truth to that. Aside from the thermal transient effects mentioned by plenty of others, you have inductive and capacitive reactances to deal with as current rushes into or out of a rat's nest of wiring every time input power changes states. This can produce transient voltages significant above nominal, and although they are fleeting, they can have a cumulative effect on the fragile PN junctions of semiconductors.
     
  20. sagatr Registered Member

    Messages:
    20
    I prefer to leave my PC on whole day. I have VNC installed so can access it from anywhere in the world.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  21. amark317 game developer-in-training Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    252
    I only turn it off if there's a bad lightning storm coming/already here.
     
  22. amark317 game developer-in-training Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    252
    or occasionally at night. don't know why. it's only like, once every three months.

    I'm usually not home on weekdays, because of school, but my brother is.
     
  23. shorty_37 Go! Canada Go! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,140
    It is usually running all day because I am usually downloading stuff. It gets shut off before bed though.
     
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