Computer - Better to Turn Off or Leave On?

justaquestion

If nothing else other than safety reasons because of a potential fire, I turn computer off at mains every night.


As I get older I am getting more safety conscious as regards a fire risk that I even turn off the tv amplifier in roofsapce these past few months, is connected to mains socket so easy to do.


Had an electric shower fire a few years ago, so being extra careful.
Only thing running in house at night time now is fridge.


I have left pc running at night downloading stuff in the past, but really don't like the idea.

AndyPix

^^ Bless - My nan used to have an old black and white CRT in her front room that she insisted on being unplugged before bed every night.


My 8 year old (at the time) brain couldn't understand why she would do this and then go to bed with the electric blanket on all night !!

elscint

Forty years a computer engineer, turn the damn thing off, do you leave your car engine running all night! DOH!!

esuhl

AndyPix wrote: »

^^ Bless - My nan used to have an old black and white CRT in her front room that she insisted on being unplugged before bed every night.


My 8 year old (at the time) brain couldn't understand why she would do this and then go to bed with the electric blanket on all night !!

I went out with a girl once who would not just turn everything off at the mains before going to bed, she'd unplug it too. It drove me nuts, and I never got used to it. I must have spent days in total, waiting for an unplugged kettle to boil! Argh!

I don't worry about most things catching fire, but I know of two people who had massive fire damage caused by their dishwashers. So I never leave on unattended!

Robisere

Switching off and unplugging your desktop enough times will result in the BIOS battery ("coin" battery on the motherboard, which maintains the BIOS) failing. The result of that is often a motherboard failure. Laptops are designed to be logged-off and shut down, then unplugged from mains unless battery is charging, with safety. Desktops are best logged-off, switched off and NEVER unplugged.

Anyone who thinks this may cause a fire, should have their house wiring checked out: modern homes have systems called RCCB's which will break circuits if there is a problem, see -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

This thread reminds me of my old dad some 60+ years ago, after we had our first fridge. Mum loved it, but dad kept opening the door and grumbling, "Why is that light on all the time? What a waste of electricity!" I had to show him the small lever which operated the switch and turned out the light when the door closed. That is the kind of outmoded thinking behind unplugging everything at bedtime. Many modern sysytems, including computers, are actually harmed by that practice. RCCB's have been in use for domestic and commercial use for many years now.

Would you unplug your fridge/freezer at bedtime? Of course not!

bsod

more myths coming out of the woodwork

Leaving your pc on or plugged in because the bios battery will last longer is an inventive justification from the bottom of a very empty barrel. A bios battery, (which lasts years, costs about 10p/year, and in most cases will outlive the ownership of the machine), does not cause motherboard failure when it runs down, and does not force the owner of the machine to undertake a windows rebuild, they might have to type in the date and time once a decade, that's it.

the outmoded thinking is leaving things switched on unnecessarily, which is why any commercial/educational/government organisation of any size, of any repute, will have a policy in place to turn computers off or at least hibernate overnight if they aren't being used. The reason why should be obvious, electricity costs money, the generation of electricity depletes the worlds resources, and has an impact on the environment and weather. Those policies wouldn't be there if 1 percent of the pc's failed to start every morning, the added risk of power cycling is tiny, the same conclusion was found in the google stats.

you don't unplug a fridge/freezer overnight because it could spoil the food, not a risk that applies to a computer. A fridge switches itself on and off numerous times a day, and should last a couple of decades at least, a pc is no different. They can still set on fire, which is why a few models have recalls in place.

consumer unit's don't stop all electrical fires.

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/around-the-home/fire-safety/


if it's switched off at the wall, it's unlikely to burst into flames, most dad's understand this simple little fact.

pc's are not 'designed to run 24/7', they are designed to work when they are switched on, and designed to work again after they have been switched off, the same as every other electrical item with an on/off switch

Cycrow

bsod wrote: »

more myths coming out of the woodwork

Leaving your pc on or plugged in because the bios battery will last longer is an inventive justification from the bottom of a very empty barrel. A bios battery, (which lasts years, costs about 10p/year, and in most cases will outlive the ownership of the machine), does not cause motherboard failure when it runs down, and does not force the owner of the machine to undertake a windows rebuild, they might have to type in the date and time once a decade, that's it.

I have had this very problem with one pc that gets powered down when not in use. Now the bios loses its settings everytime its turned off and has to be reset each time.


Its a media pc connected to a smart power switch which cuts the power when the tv is off. So it only gets power when the tv is on

roddydogs

Should I leave my lappy on, or should I let it run down the battery, then switch on, (Ducks for cover)

warehouse

OP, it doesn't matter either way. You're not going to wear it out by turning it off and on, you're not going to save/lose much in electricity by turning it off or leaving it on. Do what feels right to you.

I've been in IT too many years to care now, and all I do before bed is reboot the family PC and unplug anything that may be charging, read into that what you will .

Robisere

bsod I do not bow to your obvious knowledge and experience, plain fact is that I know of 2 desktops that were left unplugged. Both lost the BIOS, which had to be reset. Just as explained in the more accurate post by Cycrow.

Experience is a hard teacher. And I read in an earlier post that you have many years of PC/IT experience. Well, so have I, building and maintaining them for about 20 years. I also have a grandson who is a networking and security engineer.

Trumpets can be blown by anyone, the music is what matters.