08/27/08 02:19 pm ET
A group of information technology companies are asking federal employees and contractors to shut off their computers, monitors and printers before they head home today. HP, Intel and Citrix are sponsoring the Power IT Down Day to draw attention to green computing -- and the green solutions the companies offer. The companies will donate a portion of the cost savings to the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area.
As of early this afternoon 2,691 people had signed up to commit to turning off their IT devices. That translates into savings of 34,983 kilowatts, according to the Web site. Since the average American household uses about 10,000 kilowatt hours a year, according to the Energy Information Administration, that's enough saved electricity to power about 3.5 households for a year.
Two questions: How many of you leave your computer, monitor and printer on 24/7? And do you plan to turn it off before heading home today?
COMMENTS
i always turn it off at work and home. when working flexi, i try and stay off the internet unless required to be for an important message or doing research. this saves energy too.
i have been trying to get my neighbors to turn their computers off as now they keep it on 24/7.
i have always been energy conscious since i grew up in the los angeles area where there was a water and energy crisis back in the 70's. i was in elementary school and they taught about these savings and what to do and not to in school.
elizabeth weigand 09/02/08 10:07 am ET
I leave my PC and monitor on (I use a network printer). The network printer has a sleep feature that essentially turns it off after 30 mins of non-use. So it is off overnight. I have set similar settings on my hard disks and monitor such that after 2 hrs or non-use, they power down and go to sleep. This happens during the day when at lunch or long meetings, as well as overnight. My office also has motion sensors, so that the overhead and task lights go off after 15 min. In other words, 2 hrs after I leave, everything is off in my office. So, no, I do not normally turn it off before heading home. I will this weekend only because it is a 3-day weekend and I do not plan on coming into the office (as I sometimes do) this weekend.
W Ward 08/29/08 08:25 am ET
At my agency, "powering down" before leaving for the day means it will take fifteen minutes (on average) before I can use my computer the next morning (I hope that it's faster elsewhere). So "powering down" each night would result in losing more than an hour of productivity each week. When taking into consideration the fully loaded hourly rate my agency pays for my services, I have to ask: cost savings? What cost savings?
longtime atty 08/28/08 03:26 pm ET
Ironic that Citrix is pushing this, since their software for VPN requires the office desktop to be on for the individual to access the information there. Unless their contention is that all critical information/applications should be on network devices?
RW 08/28/08 11:04 am ET
We are repeatedly reminded not to shut down our computers at night because that is when they push the patches out to the pcs. I'm sure other agencies are doing the same thing.
HR Assistant 08/28/08 09:16 am ET
At both of the federal agencies I've worked at, we are explicitly told to leave our PCs powered on at the end of the workday. That is when software and other updates occur. I turn off my monitor and use a network printer, so that isn't an issue.
Here's the text of the requirement:
In order for your workstation to receive these mandatory patches, the workstation must be turned on (DO NOT POWER OFF YOUR WORKSTATION). Therefore, when leaving for the evening, please "Ctrl Alt Del," choose the shutdown button and select "RESTART," rather than locking or turning off your workstation.
Jeff Schmidt 08/28/08 08:59 am ET
We have instituted the "turn off" policy for all electronic equipment during non-work hours earlier this summer. Not only do we save the cost of that energy, but our air conditioning costs have been reduced as well.
Gloria Berthold larkin 08/28/08 08:46 am ET
We at CDC have been instructed NOT to power down, although many of us do anyway. It seems it is more convenient for ITSO (our IT services group) to push updates, patches, additional restrictions, etc.) during evening hours. That way, when we come into the office in the morning, there is a better chance of a system problem.
:-) If you power down, they can even turn your machine on remotely to accomplish this--unless of course you utilize a surge protector with a power down switch!
Anonymous at CDC 08/28/08 08:39 am ET
Has always been my standard practice to turn everything off when I head out the door - computer, radio, lights, etc. I wonder how many of the 2,691 people are like me...
voice_in_dc 08/28/08 08:37 am ET