Personal Computers consume significant amounts of energy, but you can reduce your computers electricity consumption. In cooperation with the University’s Energy Conservation Strategy, the guidelines below will assist you in configuring your computing equipment to reduce energy consumption.

Changing your Power Saving Settings

Power saving methods on you PC and Mac are not just important for energy conservation. In fact it can benefit you in many more ways.

Frequently you may be using your computer when someone phones you and you’re distracted and end up leaving your pc for an hour or more. All the time your computer is left on, the hardware been working away and its lifespan has been shortened. The best way to protect your computer and prolong its life is to use power saving options.

Windows XP

Windows XP

1. Right Click on your desktop

2. Select ‘Properties’

3. The ‘Display Properties’ Box will now appear select the ‘Screensaver’ Tab

4. There is a section at the bottom called ‘Monitor Power’ in that section select the ‘Power’ button.

5. This is where you select your power saving functions. In the ‘Power Schemes’ drop down box make sure you select the appropriate system.

6. You want to ensure that ‘Turn off Monitor’ is set to about 15 minutes.

7. Set ‘Turn of Hard Disks’ to 20 minutes.

8. Set ‘System Standby’ to 30 minutes.

9. No click on the ‘Hibernate’ tab and tick the box that says ‘Enable Hibernation’

10. Return back to the ‘Power Schemes’ tab and you will now see that ‘System Hibernate’ is an option. Set it to ‘1 Hour’.

11. Click ‘Apply’ at the bottom right of this box and then click ‘OK’

You have no just set your XP machine to conserve energy and it’s life time by using less energy on the Hard drives and monitor. Another benefit of these settings is that you can pick up from where you left off quicker than having to start your machine as your current session has been stored in memory in ‘Standby’ mode and stored on the disk in ‘Hibernate’ mode.

Hibernation uses less power than Standby and will occur when you leave your machine for greater periods ie over night. This uses a small amount of disk space to store any open programs so that when you return everything is how you left it.

Apple Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger

1. Click on the ‘Spotlight’ Icon in the top right of your screen

2. Type ‘System’ which should be enough to bring up system preferences as the top hit, as well as one of the applications. Select ‘System Preferences’.

3. In system preferences select ‘Energy Saver’

4. The ideal settings are to put your monitor to sleep after 15 min and the machine after 1hr as shown in the diagram..

Other Tips

A misconception is the belief that computers and monitors purchased with the Energy Star logo are already energy efficient. In reality they have built in energy conservation features but your computer cannot take full advantage of these built in energy saving mechanisms until the power management features are enabled and configured.

• If your computer does not have a standby or sleep mode, turn off your computer, monitor and other equipment when it is not in use.
• Shut down your computer, monitor, and personal printer or place them in a standby mode when you leave the room for more than 30 minutes.
• Do not use screensavers as energy savers as they continue to use the monitor at full power and do not conserve energy.
• Do not turn on your computer, monitor, or printer until you actually need to use them.

Does turning the the PC off damage it?

Older computers suffered shorter lifetimes under successive power cycling; however, computer components manufactured in the last three years are designed to enter into a lower power state or turn off under the control of the operating system. Therefore using the power management options or turning off newer computers does not appreciably shorten their lifetime. In fact, by using these features, the lifetime of newer computer components can even be extended.

EcoTek Standby Power Savers

The use of a Standby Saver cuts 100% of the standby power used by TVs, Hi-Fis, VCRs, DVDs, PCs and peripherals. The unit consumes less than 1 Watt and therefore meets the requirements for power usage of the Energy Saving Trust approval scheme. The EcoTek Standby Saver is a 6-way electrical extension with two ‘switchable’ sockets, which can be in Standby Saver control or permanently switched on. This flexibility allows DVD and video appliances set to record on timers, to be left switched on when required.

The unit allows for up to and including 6 electrical items to be connected and therefore one unit in a study bedroom can save the standby power of a TV, DVD, Freeview box, two games consoles and an audio system. Standby Saver is available in two versions: one for use with Infra red remote controlled electrical appliances, the second for use with USB port products. Click Here to purchase a EcoTek power saver

Related links and further information.

• Energy Saving Trust – independent evidence-based analysis on energy efficiency, small-scale renewable technologies and clean, low carbon transport, covering both the UK and Europe.
• Sustainable Energy – UK government site detailing why improved energy efficiency is a key element of the UK Climate Change Programme.
• Energy Star – a US government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency.
• Microsoft Article – Monte Enbysk explains how you can leave your computer on and still conserve energy.
• STARS Environmental Group – The Global Action Plan group is an environmental forum that STARS (the University organisation that runs halls of residences) is supporting. The Global Action Plan group is doing some really important work to try and make a difference in the way we use, consume and waste energy resources – they need your help, because by everyone making a small effort, we can make a big difference. As one of the top University’s in the country we feel that we should lead others in helping students reduce energy usage and increase the amount of recycling