It makes no sense to say that a computer as well as other electronic appliances uses electricity. And of course the more powerful and productive your computer is, the more energy it consumes in order to work. And if it works in conjunction with printers or scanners, you may be unpleasantly surprised looking at the bills because all this adds approximately $50 that is quite a good sum for a simple computer usage, isn’t it? Times to times you will not be able to pay bills and will have to borrow some cash from friends or just take out online loans to pay for urgent needs. Find out how to reduce power consumption of your computer by 5 – 20 per cent.

Switch off all devices if not needed

The most obvious advice is to turn off peripheral devices when you’re not using them. If you print 5 pages per day on the printer and your scanner is even rarer used, it is possible to switch off during their idle time. Do not forget that even if you bring the unit back to “Stand By” the electric power is still consumed. Of course, you might ask, is it so hard to remove and restore the printer from the wall outlet constantly? But almost all devices now have the toggle switch off, which is usually located on the back panel. If the switch is moved to 0 or off you are guaranteed to de-energize the computer. Now these switches are also available on printers, scanners, subwoofers and other periphery.

Adjust your monitor brightness

It is better to have a flat panel LCD monitor that uses much less energy than a common CRT monitor, so think about buying it. Make it run the power-saving mode if the computer is not active during 20 minutes. This mode makes monitor “sleep” until the mouse is active. Hard drive has to be turned off after 30 minutes or less. Do not use screensavers! They do not save energy at all. Instead, they take fool power from the monitor. And remember, the brighter a monitor is, the more power it takes away. So, adjust the brightness according the place where the computer is. For instance, if the room is poorly lit, the brightness can be reduced.

Use the laptop to save more

Think about laptop usage. It is equally convenient as a desktop, but it uses less energy. To extend the battery life for a few hours turn off all unneeded devices, such as Bluetooth, for instance.

You will not save millions when following these tips, but as everyone knows “a penny saved is a penny earned”. So, use your computer wisely and get your money saved.