As someone who is old enough to remember the energy crisis of the 1970s I remember the PSAs, as well as rants for teachers and parents, to turn off lights when you left a room. And today as energy costs rise you’re likely to be reminded to again turn off the lights.
So why is it that many offices have rows and rows of desks, all with colorful screensavers running on oversized monitors? Part of the reason is that a cottage industry started in the 1990s making flying toasters that would dash across the monitor, and this has inspired all sorts of “screen savers.” Of course better technology, including flat panel LCD screens has made the need for such things unnecessary, but that doesn’t mean that users are taking the two seconds to turn off their monitors.
In fact a common sight in many offices today are brightly lit monitors that greet those showing up for work on Monday morning, as the machines – monitors and all – were left on over the weekend. Part of this can be blamed on the IT mantra of the early to mid-1990s that said that shutting down a PC would cause extra wear and tear, and that computers are generally energy-efficient enough that they can be kept running all the time. The truth today is that while PCs are energy-efficient when being used, these still account for 40 percent of IT-related emissions, and account for 13 percent of all power consumed in an office environment. Over a weekend monitors and PCs are just wasting power. If there were only software to automtically turn off a computer...
A good first step when stepping out for lunch or heading to a meeting would be to turn off the monitor. Of course many users simply don’t take the time, but this is where programs such as WatchOverEnergy can be a benefit. This freeware program from AKS-Labs runs in the background, and helps users manage stand-by mode and track energy savings. WatchOverEnergy can even shut off the monitor automatically when the PC is inactive for periods of time, such as if a worker forgets to turn it off before heading for lunch or a meeting. Best of all it ensures that running programs, such as e-mail isn’t shut down, or a Word document won’t be lost.
“This is not a problem, as the software turns off the computer monitor, not the computer,” says Bob Elliot of AKS-Labs. And while the power used by one computer may be small, those savings can add up. “If we talk about one computer, you will not be able to save hundreds of dollars. But if your running a company network, you will be able to save much more.”