05-08-2010, 11:08 AM

I'm semi-retired. Most of my days, I'm home all day and will be off and on my MacBook. However, when I have errands to run or visit my children or friends, I usually just close the MacBook and let it "idle" until I come back and raise the cover, starting up the hard drive again.

Is it best to continue doing that? My thinking is that it's better for the laptop to only "boot up" once in the day rather than two or more times. Or is my logic old-fashioned? I'll appreciate thoughts and recommendations. Thank you in advance.

05-08-2010, 11:23 AM

The last computer I turned off with any regularity was my Commodore 64.

All of my personal machines run 24/7. All of our office machines run 24/5.

05-08-2010, 01:06 PM

I'm the same. The only time I really turn everything off and unplug it is when we're experiencing violent thunderstorms we often get in Spring and Fall here in North Texas.

Regards.

05-08-2010, 05:56 PM

I know the idle power consumption of a mac is pretty minimal, but is still more than it being turned off.

I tend to turn them off at night if they aren't doing anything, they are set to turn them selves on in the morning though.

05-08-2010, 07:28 PM

Mine has been alive since the 10.6.2 - 10.6.3 update where i had to do a system reboot for the new update to take place. Im not sure how long that has been a month or two but she works as well as it did from day 1.
In other words unless your anal about power consumption there seems no need to turn it off all the time

Cheers

05-08-2010, 10:15 PM

I use sleep mode but restart on updates.

05-09-2010, 01:11 AM

It comes down to personal preferences because doing it either way is not going to do much damage to your computer. I let my laptop sleep during the day when I'm not using it but it doesn't sleep for long because I need it most of the time for work and other computer activities. I turn it off at night though.

The reason I do this is because our electricity bill is expensive and combined with turning off other idle/standby electronics you'll be surprised as how much you can save each month. Sure I can freely give that money to the electric company but I would rather spend it elsewhere.

05-09-2010, 02:04 AM

I never turn my MacBook off. Just close the lid.

I'll restart it on updates or after certain installs, but that's about it.

05-09-2010, 02:44 AM

Computers are designed to run continuously for several years at 24/7, so you'll be just fine

05-09-2010, 04:29 AM

Leaving Computers on Overnight Costs $2.8 Billion a Year in US Alone
by Green Living on March 31, 2009
A new study estimates the cost of leaving computers on overnight at a staggering $2.8 billion a year, and that’s in the U.S. alone. Considering it takes less than a minute to shut down a computer (that’s if you have a dozen applications to close first), and a few minutes to boot up the next morning (which the computer can be doing while you’re preparing your favorite morning beverage), it’s utterly irresponsible to not shut your computer down each night.


Ford to save millions of dollars, drastically reduce carbon emissions just by turning off its computers at night
When a corporation as large as Ford decides to do something as simple as shutting down its computers at night, the savings can be astronomical. In the case of Ford, powering down computers can save the company $1.2 million each year.


I guess that unless people become a bit more 'anal' about power consumption we will keep wasting money and energy.

05-09-2010, 04:57 AM

Originally Posted by james_b

I guess that unless people become a bit more 'anal' about power consumption we will keep wasting money and energy.

Well i get a bloody good $ in my pay packet every week so that few dollars at the end of the quarter when i get my bill doesnt really worry me. I sleep very well at night thank you very much, so as far as im concerned my little baby will be doing what it has done over the past year ive had it.
Thanks for the wonderful input though

05-09-2010, 06:24 AM

Global warming and the ozone hole.
The ozone hole is a completely different phenomenon to global warming, however there are links between them. The ozone hole is caused by ozone depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, which have been produced by industry, for example CFCs. One link is that CFCs are also 'greenhouse gasses'. Enhanced global warming is a probable consequence of increasing amounts of 'greenhouse gasses', such as carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere. Although the surface of the earth warms, higher up the atmosphere cools, thus increasing the area where stratospheric clouds can form. This makes a larger area susceptible to ozone depletion and provides another link between the two issues.

I'm just glad I'm not living near those big nasty ozone holes.

05-09-2010, 10:37 PM

Oh my goodness, don't even get me started on Global Warming...or Global Climate Change......or Global cooling..

Wait, what are they calling it these days?

05-09-2010, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by james_b

Leaving Computers on Overnight Costs $2.8 Billion a Year in US Alone
by Green Living on March 31, 2009
A new study estimates the cost of leaving computers on overnight at a staggering $2.8 billion a year, and that’s in the U.S. alone. Considering it takes less than a minute to shut down a computer (that’s if you have a dozen applications to close first), and a few minutes to boot up the next morning (which the computer can be doing while you’re preparing your favorite morning beverage), it’s utterly irresponsible to not shut your computer down each night.


Ford to save millions of dollars, drastically reduce carbon emissions just by turning off its computers at night
When a corporation as large as Ford decides to do something as simple as shutting down its computers at night, the savings can be astronomical. In the case of Ford, powering down computers can save the company $1.2 million each year.


I guess that unless people become a bit more 'anal' about power consumption we will keep wasting money and energy.

This is referring to desktop always-on PC's. They have large power supplies drawing power all day with no sleep mode turned on. The poster is asking about closing the lid on the Macbook and letting it go to sleep. Completely different.

When the Macbook goes to sleep it will draw extremely low power, I'll have to get out my Kill-A-Watt and check it, but I'm going to guess under four watts if it's not charging.

05-10-2010, 02:29 AM

Both still draw power.



Do you turn your TV off when your not watching it or does that go onto standby?

Do you turn a light off when your not in the room?