I have always maintained that when you work at home it’s best to shut down your computer at the end of your working day. It’s a simple thing, but it’s one of those little sanity savers. If your computer is on, you might take a quick peek at email and get sucked you into a long discussion during the time you were supposed be with family. If it’s not on; you’re not as tempted.

As it turns out, shutting down can save you money too because it’s more energy efficient. Once upon a time, the prevailing wisdom about shutting down your computer was that the wear and tear on the machine and the added energy used at start-up did not make it cost efficient to shut down your computer frequently.

These days, though, the U.S. Department of Energy’s guidelines say it’s better to shut down. Computers are far more likely to become outdated before they wear out from being switched on and off.

Additionally, the guidelines advise shutting down both the CPU and monitor if you’re not going to using them for more than 2 hours and the monitor only for more than 20 minutes away. Screen-savers are not energy saving. Plug in monitors, printers, laptops and other accessories to power strips. Switch off the power strips when not in use because these all draw power even when off.

More on Thrifty Thursday:

Thrifty Thursday: Save Energy, Save Money….Save Your Sanity originally appeared on About.com Work-at-Home Moms on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 06:32:38.

Permalink | Comment | Email this