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Top 10 Ways to Reduce Computing Energy Use at Home

Reducing the computing energy you use at home is an important task. The tips below will help you get started.

  1. Know how much energy you're using
    Use a power meter to find out how much energy your computer actually consumes and to calculate your actual savings.
  2. Don't use a screen saver
    Screen savers are not necessary on modern monitors, and studies show they actually consume more energy than allowing the monitor to dim when not in use.
  3. Use a laptop instead of a desktop
    Laptops typically consume less power than desktops.
  4. Only open or turn on what you need
    Close unused applications and turn off your monitor when you're not using it.
  5. Control monitor brightness
    Turn down the brightness setting on your monitor. The brightest setting on a monitor consumes twice the power used by the dimmest setting.
  6. Turn off peripherals when not in use
    Turn off items such as printers, scanners and speakers when not being used.
  7. Manage power use
    Employ power management strategies for your computer and monitor. For example, adjust sleep settings and powering down when possible. Doing so can save nearly half a ton of CO2 and more than $60 a year in energy costs.
  8. Fight phantom power
    Plug all your electronics into one power strip and turn the strip off when you are finished using your computer. When feasible, we also recommend unplugging the power strip from the wall to avoid high voltage surges which may occur during an electrical storm.
  9. Establish multiple power schemes to address different usage models
    For example, you can create a power scheme for playing music CDs that shuts off your hard drive and monitor immediately but never puts your system into standby mode.
  10. Shop for efficient products
    Buying a new computer? Make energy efficiency a priority while shopping for your PC and monitor. Look for the ENERGY STAR labels or check your product out at EPEAT.

This list is based on "Climate Savers Computing. (2011). Top 10 Ways to Reduce. Retrieved from http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/act/saving-energy-at-home/top-10-ways-to-reduce"