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Whether to turn off your computer at night depends on individual needs. Turning it off saves energy, increases security, and reduces wear and tear, but leaving it on allows for processes and updates. Shutting down can improve performance, but continuous use wears out parts. Leaving it on is recommended for work networks, hosting data, and communication devices. Surge protectors or unplugging can prevent electrical damage.
Whether you should turn off your computer at night is a tricky question, since some computers can benefit from being turned off at night, while others should be left on. Many people choose to shut down their computers to save energy, increase security, and reduce wear and tear on parts. Others choose to leave it on for processes running overnight, data sharing, and network or security updates. Ultimately, whether or not to turn off your computer at night is an individual decision and you’ll have to balance the pros and cons. If you have a home PC with no network, you may find that turning it off and unplugging it offers the greatest benefits.
Energy saving
A common reason for shutting down a computer at night is power consumption. Turned off ones consume less electricity than turned on ones, even when in idle or sleep mode. Desktop PCs use much more energy than laptops, so turning them off can have a more noticeable impact on the price of your electric bill. Although sleep mode significantly reduces the amount of electricity used, a device in this mode will still use about a third of the power it uses when it is turned on.
Safety
Turning off your computer at night offers a small, temporary security boost. When a computer is completely shut down, it is not subject to Internet attacks or unauthorized electronic access. Turning off the device can also protect it from being accessed by onsite intruders simply because logging into a computer that isn’t already powered on takes longer. If you decide to shut down your computer at night, it’s important to make sure that all operating system and antivirus software updates have been completed before doing so, as shutting it down could interrupt the update and leave you vulnerable to attack.
Potential increase in performance
Some operating systems benefit from being shut down and restarted. For these, turning off the device at night ensures that the system gets a fresh start in the morning, which can help eliminate crashes and sluggishness during the day. However, other systems don’t benefit from restarting, and the process of restarting your computer and the programs you use throughout the day can take a long time.
Hardware lifespan
Turning off a computer at night can also reduce wear and tear on some parts of the hardware, such as the fan and monitor. Since these parts are usually on when the computer is turned on, long-term continuous use can cause them to wear out. While you can do things to help prevent wear, such as turning off your monitor and making sure your computer doesn’t get too hot, leaving it on for a long time will likely cause it to wear out more quickly than if you didn’t. Even a running computer collects dust, so leaving it on at night means you’ll need to clean it more frequently.
However, turning your machine on and off every day can put stress on other hardware components, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and hard drive. When the computer is turned on, these parts tend to heat up and expand, then cool down and contract when turned off. The stress of expanding and contracting every day can eventually damage your hardware.
When to leave it on?
In some cases, it is not recommended to turn off the computer at night. If it’s part of a work network and your admin updates it at night, you might cause problems or delays if you turn it off. Computers that host data and hardware needed by others on a network should also remain powered on. For example, if you’re accessing a printer through a computer, you won’t want to turn it off unless no one else is using it. If your computer serves as a communication device, such as an answering machine, telephone, or fax machine, it should also stay on whenever calls might come in.
Some users might shut down their computer because they think it will protect it from power surges, but it really isn’t. Even when it’s turned off, the machine is still vulnerable as long as it’s plugged in. Fitting surge protectors or unplugging the machine can help prevent electrical damage.
