Do you typically keep your computer on constantly?

[tik 🪀✨]

In the States I kept my desktop on 24/7, mostly because I ran a bot in an IRC channel accessed at all hours. Although, I basically did so before that as well. I couldn't fall asleep without its whirring fans and sharp green light after a while.

Now, I don't. My partner is afraid it's wasteful, and I'm not on it that often anyway. I'm not counting my phone which is basically always on. I should probably turn that off at night as well, really.

Anyway, this ought to be very exciting. Go.

[dead0man]

yes, out of habit.  It goes into sleep mode (or hibernation) after an hour or so though.  Somebody is normally sitting at it though.

[Franzl]

No, of course not. Why should I waste electricity when it just takes a few seconds to turn it back on when I want to use it?

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Well, I just close my laptop when I'm done with it, so it goes into sleep mode. I don't really consider that to be "on" though.

[politicallefty]

Yes. I realize it's not great for the electricity bill, but it's far more convenient.

[Bigby]

I tend to keep it on once every few days or weekly and turn it off at intervals. I'd shut it down daily if Google's Incognito worked a little differently.

[Smash255]

Have a laptop, usually just close the lid and it goes into sleep mode, once a week or so I will shut it down completely.

[TDAS04]

Yes, out of habit.  It goes to sleep just a few minutes after not being used. 

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I always turn it off at the end of the day and turn it on the next morning hours before I use it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Not being an idiot spendthrift, no.

[RR1997]

Yes

[Goldwater]

Well, I just close my laptop when I'm done with it, so it goes into sleep mode. I don't really consider that to be "on" though.

[nclib]

Turn it off every couple of days. Would turn it off daily, but I have tabs/browsers open and unread, and after shutting down, the computer doesn't save the tabs/browsers.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

No.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No. My daughter did and I think she still does. Dries me crazy.

[angus]

I leave the office computer on unless I'm expecting an absence of four days or longer.  I have it on sleep mode so it doesn't really use any juice.  We keep all of our computers on at home all the time unless we're going on vacation.  They sleep as well.  

I pay 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity.  That turns out to be 0.000002 cents per Joule. When I'm running an intensive program, like if I'm calculating the enthalpy of formation for an energetic compound, I might be using 90 watts, which costs 0.6 cents per hour.  If I'm just browsing and surfing, it might be around 0.3 cents per hour.  In sleep mode, computers use about 1 watt, which means that sleeping my computer has an electricity cost of about 0.0072 cents per hour.  Peak boot, on the other hand, probably runs about 100 Watts for half a minute, meaning that it costs about 0.006 cents to turn it on.  

Therefore, it costs about the same (seven one-thousands of one cent versus six one-thousandths of one cent), to let it sleep for an hour as it does to turn it on.  I suppose that if you're really into pinching the pennies, and worry about that one one-thousandth of a cent, then it makes sense to turn it off for an hour.  

By the way, if you really want to save that one one-thousandth of a cent, be sure to unplug it after you turn it off, because leaving the transformer plugged in, even if the computer is off, will still use about 1 Watt of power, which is the same as the sleep mode uses.  

My advice:  just leave it on.  Put it in sleep mode, leave it on, and forget about that fraction of a cent that it will cost overnight.

[DemPGH]

I don't, mainly out of habit. I shut it down at night. I have a Macbook, which fires up and shuts down FAST, so that doesn't make a difference (and I think you're technically supposed to shut it down if it will not be used for a while).   

[Gustaf]

I usually hibernate/sleep it during the night which I think roughly amounts to the same thing as turning it off. Besides, I don't pay my electricity bill anyway so my financial incentive is low.

[dead0man]

Many moons ago it was advised to NOT turn them off by "experts" and experts alike.  Power supplies sucked much more than they do now and couldn't take the daily on and off.

[morgieb]

No, of course not.