There’s much debate about whether you should leave your devices switched on all the time or turn them off when they’re not in use. Rob Beattie weighs up the pros and cons
YOUR PC
Why leave it on?
Mainly, for convenience. Despite recent improvements to Windows’ boot-up speed, it’s still not fast enough, and we’ve got better things to do than hang about waiting for a PC to start up or shut down. The popularity of tablets and smartphones that turn on instantly has made us even more intolerant of slow startup, and it’s more convenient to simply nudge your mouse or tap the spacebar to coax your desktop PC back into life.
Switching your PC on and off all the time also leads to wear and tear on its components, especially if you’re using an older machine with mechanical drives that need to spin up and spin down. Every time you switch on your PC, it gets a little electrical ‘kick’ from the mains supply as everything grinds into gear, and this uses the components more than if the machine is always left on. That ‘kick’ also causes the components – including SSDs – to heat up, and overheating is one of the main causes of PC breakdown. Meanwhile, a lot of system software (Windows, antivirus, online backup, browser add-ons) goes about its business in the background, and turning off your machine prevents this from happening.
Why switch it off?
You often need to switch off (or at least restart) your PC to finish installing software updates that otherwise sit there waiting to complete. These days, Windows is such a complicated beast that an occasional restart will solve niggling problems such as low memory, and generally benefit performance and improve stability. Turning off your machine may save electricity, but it’s a negligable amount when compared with other kilowattguzzling appliances in your home.
Verdict:
On, but restart it a couple of times a month.
YOUR PHONE OR TABLET
Why leave it on?
One of the main advantages of owning a tablet or smartphone is that you’re always connected, so if you want to receive important emails, Facebook messages, WhatsApp notifications – even old-fashioned phone calls – the moment they arrive, you’ll need to leave the device switched on. Both iOS and Android are pretty good at limiting the problems that can be caused by buggy apps, so there’s not much benefit in restarting your device if something goes pear-shaped. It’s far more convenient to ‘force stop’ the individual app, then start it again.
Why switch it off?
If you don’t want to be tracked by your friends and family using an app such as Apple’s Find My Friends, for example, then just turn off your phone. It’s the simple, foolproof way to disappear – at least temporarily. If you’re not bothered about staying in constant contact, turning off your device while you charge it overnight speeds up the process and keeps the temperature down. On a less technological note, you should also consider switching off your phone when you’re out for the evening because there’s nothing sadder than a table of people in a pub or restaurant all looking at their phones instead of each other. And if you leave it on in the cinema, you deserve to be kneecapped by the usher.
Verdict:
On. But give yourself, your device and those around you the occasional ‘off’ break.
YOUR ROUTER
Why leave it on?
Following a query from Web User forum member The Badger, our Practical pages have been full of discussion about this. The main benefit of leaving it on is, obviously, that you can instantly access your beloved internet from any device connected to your network. Moreover, every time you turn your router off and back on again, it has to resynchronise with the local exchange and there’ll be some back and forth of data before it achieves the fastest, most stable connection again.
Why switch it off?
Merchants of doom warn about unnecessary electricity consumption (by our reckoning about £1 per month – tops) and hint that older models may be a fire hazard (in which case, just get rid of the device and buy a new one).
Verdict:
On. And that’s our final word on the subject, The Badger!
YOUR PRINTER OR SCANNER
Why leave it on?
Because printers, scanners and all-in-ones are designed to be left alone to look after themselves. Most modern devices of this type will go to sleep if they haven’t been used for about 20 minutes, but keep just enough juice running so they can ‘hear’ an incoming fax (remember those?) coming through or, more commonly, a print request from your PC.
Why switch it off?
If you’re not going to be using the device for a day or two, you might as well turn it off because you’ll save a little bit of power. Always use the proper on/off switch rather than turning it off at the mains or yanking out the cable, because most devices go through a proper shut down/startup process to make sure their print heads are safely ‘parked’.
Verdict:
On. The electricity you’ll save is hardly worth the trouble of switching it off.
YOUR LAPTOP
Why leave it on?
Laptops share many of the same characteristics as desktop PCs, so much of the same advice applies. The only special consideration is battery life. Laptop manufacturers consider batteries to be consumables (like printer cartridges) that have a finite number of charge cycles, so it’s to your advantage to leave the laptop plugged in and running off the mains whenever you can, because this will extend the usable life of your battery.
Why switch it off?
Laptop batteries are designed to be charged and then discharged; if you only ever run your computer off the mains, then the battery life will degrade more quickly because it’s not running through those charge cycles like it’s supposed to.
Verdict:
Both, but the question is not so much ‘on or off?’ as ‘mains or battery?’ The answer is: mains when it’s available, battery when it’s not. All batteries degrade but balanced usage will make yours last longer.
YOUR WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
Why leave it on?
So many different services and devices rely on technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – including maps, social networks, photo tools, weather apps, dating services and many more – that you’ll miss them when they’re not available. And although each of those apps sucks a little bit of life out of your battery, the whole point of mobile devices is their connectivity, so why on Earth would you want to turn them off?
Why switch it off?
You should turn off Bluetooth (the world’s least favourite wireless technology) unless you’re using an external mini keyboard or handsfree headset with your phone, because it makes big demands on the battery. For the same reason, lose the Wi-Fi because your device will otherwise be constantly looking for hotspots and trying to connect to them, even when it can’t. You can also save battery life by turning off Location Services, with the added benefit of not informing Apple, Google and the rest of the world where you are at every given moment.
Verdict:
Off. Save battery life and protect your privacy until you need to use the apps.