Sleep Mode: Effective Energy Saver?

The Nazarite

A friend and I have been debating the effectivness of a computer's sleep mode.

He says that overall, it actually takes more energy to put the computer to sleep and then wake it up. And, the constant wake and sleep cycle is detrimental to the hard drive.

I agree that it probably takes more energy to put a computer through a sleep/wake cycle over a short amount of time, say five minutes or so. But I think that over a longer period of time, like half-an-hour, keeeping the computer on wastes more energy.

So, H/A, is sleep mode an energy waster or saver?

Thanks.

Edgie

Your friend is pretty stupid. It's no worse on the hard drive than turning the machine off.

stigweard

It's the same as the argument over light bulbs, and Mythbusters already covered it. It is better to turn off the machine, or put it to sleep than have it running if you want to save electricity. If you are using the default power saving mode, the hdds turn off after 20 minutes anyway so there isn't going to be a whole lot of difference in wear and tear on those components. In the end though, a pc costs about 10$ a month to leave idling 24/7, or about the same as 2 - 4 60 watt light bulbs.