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Should you shut down your computer every day?
Results so far:
| Yes | 66% | 45 votes | Total: 68 votes | |
| No | 34% | 23 votes |
Yes
by John Jacob Smith
Created on: April 18, 2011
There are numerous reasons why one should shutdown their computer after each use. Other than the use of electricity there are more commonly unknown reasons why one should shut down. The fact that some computers do not put their hard-drives into a standby mode after a certain amount of idle time wears down the internal bearings on the platters. Also, with the computer running continuously it is drawing more dust into itself thus increasing the heat in the computer
Use of electricity
The average modern computer contains a power supply that is rated for around 500 watts. Also, the average power supply runs at 50-85% efficiency. Therefore, the computer on average in drawing 250-425 watts while in use. This adds up to 2190-3723 kWh per year of use if running 24/7. Assuming a rate of $0.10 per kWh this is an expense of $219-$372.30 per year. Similarly, using the computer for 5 hours per day costs $45.625-$77.5625 per year. A difference of $173.375-$294.7375, it is quite a tremendous difference.
Hard-drive Usage
Assuming that the computer does not have a hard-drive standby mode and it spins at 7200RPM, if the computer is left on with the hard-drives spinning at full speed it adds up to 10368000 revolutions per day. That amount of revolutions may cause wear and tear on the bearings of the hard-drive platters. However, if the computer is run for only 5 hours per day with the same conditions, a total of 2160000 revolutions occur. That is a reduction of 79.17%, which will have a tremendous effect on the live of your hard-drive.
Dust accumulation
The accumulation of dust inside a computer is impossible to stop and has a outstanding effect on the live of all of the components inside the computer and on the power draw of the computer. As outlined above the cost of running a computer 24/7 is a very large figure and if there is a large accumulation of dust inside the computer the cost will increase by a two-fold. Unfortunately, dust can cause short circuits which in turn prevent your computer from functioning properly. Also Dust can also get into fans and cause them to stop working or work with reduced efficiency. And most importantly dust accumulation inside a computer will increase the heat on the components resulting in a shorter life.
In conclusion, running a computer 24/7 must be avoided at all costs. It was proved that it will increase your operating costs by a large margin. And, that it will reduce the lifespan of your hard-drive. Finally, it results in an increase in dust accumulation inside the computer.
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No
by Samuel B
Created on: March 12, 2011
Throughout computer communities this question gets asked a lot, lets shed some light on computers and discuss why you should and maybe shouldn't turn your computer off every day. Inside a computer there is one part that moves and has the vulnerability of failing at any moment; this device is the hard drive. The hard drive has a platter inside which stores all of your data, now depending on what manufacturer your hard drive is from, it could be designed poorly and wearing out the device that reads it every time you turn your PC on and off.
I do not agree with keeping a computer working 24/7 or consistently turning it on and off. In fact the best method of insuring that your computer has the longest possible life, is to use the sleep/standby feature on your computer. When you put your computer into sleep/standby mode, your current session gets put into system (RAM) memory, which is retained as long as your PC is connected to power, so if you do lose power, you will be required to do a full startup. Using sleep/standby mode will get your computer started almost instantly and not require the lengthy start process that would normally follow after doing a full shutdown. Most importantly of all the sleep/standby process will eliminate most of the wear and tear that happens to your hard drive.
Although it's a good idea to use the sleep/standby process all the time, there are situations in which a computer needs to be fully restarted; such as after updates, major hardware changes, systems settings changes, and other functions that would affect the overall system.
Apart from the stressing of the hard drives every time a computer is turned on, there really aren't any side effects worth mentioning. For completeness, lets investigate why keeping a PC on 24/7 is not a good idea either.
Every item, no matter how well it's made, comes to a point at which it no longer works; Computers are definitely one of those items. Keeping your computer on all the time is not only expensive from the power consumption, but it also takes away the "life expectancy" your computer may have. A computer system is made up of thousands of components and if either one fails, your PC will stop working. One of the most effected components on a computer system are the capacitors which store energy for a short moment until it's needed. These capacitors if used under stress will shorten the life of your computer down to about two to three years. So unless needed, it is not recommended to keep your PC on all the time, and unless you plan on replacing computer components very often, it's not recommended to shut down your computer all the time.
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