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In just 20 seconds you could improve your computer's energy efficiency and lifespan, whilst cutting your electricity bills. What are you waiting for?
All you have to do to prevent this is change a few basic settings on your computer, so that the monitor turns off when inactive and the system goes into hibernate when not in use. As always, there are ways to step the challenge up a notch or two too... read on for more info.
For people
By improving the energy efficiency of your computer you would save energy and as much as £17 from your electricity bill each year, right now.
Shockingly, a third of business computers in the UK are left switched on overnight, costing British businesses more than £300m a year in extra electricity bills.
Regularly leaving your laptop or PC on when not in use shortens the life-span of the computer. By managing the power settings more efficiently, can also prolong its battery life significantly.
For planet
85% less energy is used by laptops compared to desktop PCs. Computers use electricity, quite a lot actually. Leaving a computer and its peripherals on when not in use wastes a lot of energy, resulting in totally unnecessary carbon emissions. Desktops use the most energy, with laptops burning through a lot less power - but they're not the winners in the energy efficiency league table - tablets comfortably take that spot. When you think about how many computers there are around the world, left humming night after night, you can imagine it really does all add up. Don't let yours join the din.
It really is very easy.
The main thing is to set your device to go to sleep after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. If using a laptop or tablet, make sure you adjust settings for both power and battery states.
You can find instructions on how to do that for various operating systems here:
There are several handy apps like Caffeine for Mac that allow you to override these settings with one simple click - perfect for that important presentation when you really don’t want your laptop going to sleep!
Seven more pointers to optimise your computer’s energy efficiency:
Mobile phones: While you're at it, how about optimising your phone's battery life and energy efficiency too? Check out these 15 simple steps to extend your phone's battery life.