It can be tempting to leave your computer on overnight. Eventually, it may go into sleep mode, which should theoretically limit its power consumption. But there are a few legitimate reasons why you should unplug your computer every night.
Significant energy savings
While your computer may not consume much power when sleeping or idling overnight, using zero watts will always cost less than using some watts. Whether the energy savings are worth it to you depends on factors such as your computer's actual nighttime power consumption and how much you pay for nighttime electricity.
Once you've calculated how much it costs you to run your computer overnight for a year, decide if you're comfortable with that number, and don't forget that every watt you consume has a potential impact on the environment, no matter how much it costs in money.
You can prevent updates from breaking your PC.
There's nothing worse than waking up to find that your computer has a problem due to a buggy update. It's not always as important as Shutdown due to mass strikebut even a small mistake can ruin your entire day of productivity. If you only turn on your computer when it's time to start using it, and check the news or work email on your phone until then, there's a good chance you'll find out something went wrong with an update before you turn on your computer again. There is even a high probability that the erroneous update will already be canceled during this time.
This makes your computer less vulnerable to hacking.
A computer that has no power cannot be hacked, and turning off your computer when you're not using it for anything has the added bonus of giving malware and hackers a smaller window of opportunity. If someone tries to take over your computer while you are sitting in front of it, you can I noticed something strange was happening before they can finish the job.
- Exit
-
7 amps
- Connection type
-
Type B – 3-pin (North America)
Safely shut down your computer on a daily schedule with this APC Uninterruptible Power Supply. Of course, this backup battery can also keep your computer online during power outages and help it shut down in the event of an extended power outage.
This can reduce component wear.
Computer components have a limited lifespan, and every hour your computer is running takes hours away. This used to be a more serious problem for computers that used mechanical hard drives as the primary drive, but these days, SSDs have largely eliminated this type of wear and tear as an issue. Mechanical drives will go into sleep mode after a while and pause their motors, which is more likely for secondary drives, so the worry is also reduced.
However, if your computer uses liquid cooling, your pumps will wear out with use, and the same goes for any fans running in your system. Technical electronics such as integrated circuits are also degrade over time as energy flows through them, although admittedly under normal circumstances this happens too slowly to make a difference in actual use. However, there are several components in your computer that have a shorter lifespan.
A disabled computer is a quiet computer.
I know a lot of people have their computers in their bedrooms, which means the noise from your system is present the entire time you're trying to sleep. Trust me, I've been there. For some people, this little bit of white noise can really help, but I'm sure there are just as many people who would have better sleep quality without the extra noise. Especially if you have a computer that speeds up and down the fans rather than constantly humming at idle.
Even if your computer is not in the same location as where you sleep, it may be making noise somewhere that could be made a little less noisy, so it's definitely worth keeping in mind.
Of course, there are many legitimate reasons to leave your computer on overnight. Perhaps you need to download a big game, or perhaps you use your desktop computer as a Plex server. However, if your computer routinely sits idle all night, it may be time to turn it off.
