Comments on: Learn How To Save A Dollar A Day

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:49:10 +0000

As far as I am aware the vast majority of people all over the world already shuts down their computers when they are not in use. Most larger companies even have it as a firm rule for the sake of pushed updates.

The only people that actually leave the computer on at night are the kind of people like me, who reads this and goes “Wow, only a dollar? Awesome, I can stop turning my computer off!”

By: John

John — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:45:28 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Edwin. I believe so. I know there are screen savers that will shutdown the machine, but turning it off is another thing. Even with the ATX logical switch, the power is still on. Maybe the solution is as simple as having a timer on the power strip. This way, between 11pm and 7am, the power is completely cut by the timer. Just an idea.

By: Edwin

Edwin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:58:54 +0000

That’s a good idea, with this technique millions of dollars could de saved and earned every month if all Americans decide to turn off computers at night.

By: 6/17 Efforts toward quitting my day job… | John A Simpson

6/17 Efforts toward quitting my day job… | John A Simpson — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:11:57 +0000

[...] the Learn How To Save A Dollar A Day post from Spending Less 101, through [...]

By: John

John — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:36:18 +0000

To clarify, Al does have a good point. What you should do is put all of the devices that you plan on turning off overnight on one power strip. You will still need to go through the proper shutdown process, but once that is done, you can then turn off the power strip. This will make sure that those devices draw 0% power overnight.

By: John

John — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:05:06 +0000

On an ATX motherboard, shutdown does turn off most of the power. There is still enough power to detect a wakeup command coming across the NIC...which is why you can see the NIC light still on on some computers, even if the computer has been shutdown (not turned off with the switch on the back of the power supply). From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

An ATX power supply does not directly connect to the system power button, allowing the computer to be turned off via software. However, many ATX power supplies have a manual switch on the back to ensure the computer is truly off and no power is being sent to the components. With this switch on, energy still flows to the components even when the computer appears to be "off." This is known as soft-off or standby and can be used for remote wake up through Wake-on-Ring or Wake-on-LAN, but is generally used to power on the computer through a front switch.

By: AL

AL — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:41:19 +0000

Turning off the computer with Microsoft’s “shutdown” does not turn off the power supply which draws power even when it’s off. Also, all those little black boxes plugged into the outlet are never turned off. The only way to really save is to turn off an outlet strip that everything (including your modem, router, printer, scanner, etc.) is plugged into.