Do you turn your computer completely off when not using it?

[CindyKansas]

I love my toaster oven in the summer. I refuse to use the oven in the summer. It heats up the kitchen too much. We use it for casseroles, brownies, heating up frozen chicken and other frozen items.

The laptop gets turned off every night. The other 2 computers just go to sleep or hibernate when not in use.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Our computer is tuned off each night, and back on in the morning.

I got a toaster oven about a year ago and love it! Wanted the kids to learn to do more things, and with a gas stove/oven I thought this was a good safe move. Be sure to research brands. Read Consumer Reports or Epinions as I heard some are rather worthless. We don't just do toast either. Kids have made mini muffin pizzas, grill cheese, hot dogs, etc.

 

[browneyes]

At work, no. We're asked to leave ours on. At home, yes.

 

[jrydberg]

Actually, the lifespan of components has been one of the major reasons for leaving computers on all the time. Powering on and off sends the components through heating and cooling cycles that tend to degrade the components over time, causing shorter lifespans.

However, with relatively newer computers, the components are sturdy enough that the lifespan does not degrade with repeated power cycles. Essentially, there used to be a good reason to keep the computer on, but really these days it doesn't matter (other than you use up a bit more electricity).

 

[Serena]

I leave mine on, except for during storms.

 

[Robmom]

I also turn mine off at night. If I leave mine on all day, it seems to get too hot and it starts acting crazy and I can't shut down properly. As for the toaster oven, they are great. I hardly ever use the regular oven. We have to buy a new one because the one we had just died. I guess we just used it too much!

 

[JoNo]

I leave mine on at night mostly because I do a folding program that sucks up a lot of CPU flops. However, all you guys & gals that leave them on, don't forget to reboot every now & then to clear out your memory... Keeps it from getting sluggish after being on for a few days or weeks

 

[HollyJoy]

Mine's usually on all the time. If I think about it, I"ll turn it off when I go to bed. When I go on vacation, I definately shut it down.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Mom has never believed the "uses less energy" argument, so I'm required to turn the computer off whenever I'm not on it. Which just means that I'm booting the thing up sometimes 10 times a day. She's not a computer person can ya tell?
Dad leaves the one on at his office all the time. He just turns the monitor off and it goes into sleep mode eventually. He used to leave the one on at house house all the time but after having to replace many parts this year that got melted by lightning when he wasn't home, the computer now gets turned off and unplugged the minute we finish using it. But that computer doesn't get much use anyway.