Please Turn Off Your Computers Over Vacation

from the thanks dept

Fri, Dec 15th 2006 6:38pm — Mike Masnick

Canon is apparently worried about the impact of people leaving their printers and other office equipment on over the holidays. They've done a study in the UK, noting that a tremendous amount of energy will be wasted by office workers leaving computers, printers and other equipment powered up while they're off from work. All in all, they say the excess wasted juice will cost companies £8.66 million (~$17 million), and would apparently be enough to roast 4.4 million holiday turkeys. Of course, it's not Canon's printers doing most of the damage (it's their study after all). The big energy suckers are the PCs, of course, representing 87% of the problem. So, apparently, Canon's holiday message to the world is, please, when you leave the office for the holidays, turn off your PC.

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61 Comments

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DittoBox, 15 Dec 2006 @ 7:26pm

Server's Too
You should all turn off the servers too.

Sincerely, The BOfH
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2006 @ 1:10pm
  
  Re: Server's Too
  the the internet would be down jackass.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2006 @ 12:47pm
    
    Re: Re: Server's Too
    I think that was his point dumbass.....
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- anonymous, 18 Dec 2006 @ 12:36am
  
  Re: Server's Too
  SO TRUE
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Beck, 15 Dec 2006 @ 7:31pm

Standby Mode

The article indicates that this level of usage is for electronics left in standby mode.

Better advice would be to unplug everything because even when these devices are turned off they are still drawing electricity.
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Evil Otto, 15 Dec 2006 @ 8:27pm

Ten days?!? People in England get TEN DAYS over the holidays?

Don't they know that giving people days off supports terrorism?
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- Platina, 17 Dec 2006 @ 6:45am
  
  Re: Idiot
  Are you just plain stupid, or a idiot.
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  - discojohnson, 17 Dec 2006 @ 11:18am
    
    Re: Re: Idiot
    or sarcastic..
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SimplyGimp, 15 Dec 2006 @ 8:31pm

Make Me...
My computers are staying on the entire holiday season. How dare you even suggest I should turn off my BOINC software. I'm contributing idle CPU cycles towards finding a cure for cancer!

Happy Holidays!
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- buck, 17 Dec 2006 @ 7:59am
  
  Re: Make Me...
  Here! Here! BOINC ROCKS!
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Danny, 15 Dec 2006 @ 8:58pm

Wait!
Won't turning them off and on every year wear out the switches and cause the hard drives to freeze? LOL. (I really love that argument and am just instigating)
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- Sheldon, 16 Dec 2006 @ 6:42pm
  
  Re: Wait!
  No way man,wont the buttons fall off if you touch them lol.
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Paul, 15 Dec 2006 @ 9:42pm

Ironic
Just earlier today my roommate left saying he wouldn't be back until the next evening. He left without turning off 2 computers in his room, along with a large fan.

Screw wasted energy, I'm worried about wasted money on my electric bill.
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- Bill, 16 Dec 2006 @ 12:22am
  
  Re: Ironic
  You could save electricity by flipping the breaker for his room after he leaves... but leave the furnace on because frozen pipes in an apartment can get very messy and you'll neighbors will hate you for it... just ask my old roommate.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Dec 2006 @ 9:50pm

Misleading title
Personally, the title is kinda misleading - on my peronsalized Google home-page I read the rss link and thought "So people are supposed to turn off their home computers for some reason?"...

Perhaps it's just my stupidity, but it would help if it said "Please turn off your computers at work over vacation"
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TZoe, 15 Dec 2006 @ 10:21pm

It's Holiday - Not Vacation
Isn't it, "We're going on holiday" as the commonly used term in the UK vs. vacation?

At any rate - I'm voting for turning off and unplugging all electronic equipment when away in case there is an electrical storm or outage in your absence - avoid the deadly power surge!

Otherwise, my pc's will be on throughout this holiday/vacation!
(I get one whole day of holiday and one whole day I took for vacation - blended nicely, thank you very much!)
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SortaLikeJake, 16 Dec 2006 @ 12:02am

Nonsense
But, how am I supposed to finish all of those illegal Limewire downloads if I don't leave the computer running while on holiday? =P
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Greg Jackson, 16 Dec 2006 @ 1:12am

That's christmas, by the way
A whole article about the Christmas holiday, which manages not to use the word Christmas. I don't believe in god either - but this studious avoidance of cultural heritage is ridiculous. What is a "holiday turkey"? What would the article call Santa Claus - holiday gift giving man?
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2006 @ 4:30am
  
  Re: That's christmas, by the way
  The original article didn't seem to have any problem mentioning Christmas several times.
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- Someone, 16 Dec 2006 @ 5:24am
  
  Re: That's christmas, by the way
  Actually, it makes sense to say 'holiday turkey.' The traditional Christmas bird is the goose, turkey only became popular after colonisation of the Americas, and due in part I suspect to Thanksgiving (or as we English like to call it, "We didn't want America anyway" day) and then later in Europe as more turkeys began to be shipped over here. This is particularly relevant as the article is about the UK (although turkey is probably more common than goose over here now due to cost).
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- ryan, 16 Dec 2006 @ 1:09pm
  
  Re: That's christmas, by the way
  why would it mention santa at all?
  
  that's bizarre and culturally prejudiced.
  
  there are other holidays around the same time.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2006 @ 6:20am
  
  Re: That's christmas, by the way
  No they would call him a holday gift giving "person".
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Sammer The Spammer, 16 Dec 2006 @ 6:13am

DON'T TURN THEM OFF!!
PLEASE DON'T TURN YOUR PCS OFF! I HAVE TONS OF SPAM TO SEND AND I NEED THOSE ZOMBIES. OH PLEASE, PLEASE!!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2006 @ 6:36am

Just turn off the ones that surveilance cameras use to report motion ;-)
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Stu, 16 Dec 2006 @ 6:46am

"We didn't want America anyway" day

NOW THAT'S FUNNY !
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- Down Under, 16 Dec 2006 @ 7:31pm
  
  Re:
  Now that is hilarious because the English must have decided they no longer wanted America after they got their asses kicked off the property!
  
  Now that's funny!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2006 @ 7:18am

"Thanksgiving (or as we English like to call it, "We didn't want America anyway" day)"

If you're going to try to be funny, at least be smart, and realize that your joke would refer to The 4th of July (Independence Day).
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Jeff, 16 Dec 2006 @ 8:16am

I'll Use My Elecricity If I Wanna
Just proves Canon's all commie fascist pig.

If I wanna leave my computer on in case I wanna run background tasks, or log in remotely to check on things, or whatever, well then I'm d***ed well gonna.

Canon should read the other Techdirt articles that talk about how so many people no longer have a "work-free" vacation and end up mixing work with vacation, never TOTALLY leaving the office behind. In other words, I'm not WASTING electricity, I'm USING IT how I *want* to use it.

Moreover, Mike, many articles like this you don't just put out the company view, but you also balance it with other Techdirt articles in the past or other current points of view. Maybe you just got lazy or just thought if you presented the one view that it would be funny to stir up the fire and see what kinda inflamatory comments would result. But really it's exactly this kind of article that makes we want to dismiss Techdirt authors as just a bunch of whiney b****es whose musings are mostly junk , but who occasionally give me a heads-up on a tech topic I hadn't heard about elsewhere yet.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2006 @ 9:14am

Wonder if they wasted more power in using materials and energy to do the study...
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Brad Eleven, 16 Dec 2006 @ 9:20am

"but... we must say *something* ..."
What a waste of energy it was to publish this silly recommendation. As many have already pointed out, we have much more perfidious ways to waste energy than to leave our bloody computers on.

See also the actual causes of shifts in human behavior, and note that none of them are a memorandum. Or a news article. Or even an essay. It takes someone's livelihood being interrupted, and regrettably, this is much more likely to happen when sensible practises are legislated.

I agree with the idea, and I'm aligned with the cultural elements who are likely to continue reminding us that we have actually passed the energy watershed. However, the ownership of the mass media is concentrated in the hands of the same people who've invested heavily in petroleum, and in Middle East "stability" (read "run by white people"), and in other concerns which dictate continued global warming and genocide.

I fully expect the deck chairs to be maintained, even as the vessel comes apart and sinks with us on it.
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- KuanYin, 16 Dec 2006 @ 2:33pm
  
  Re: "but... we must say *something* ..."
  Brad Eleven....
  somebody makes a suggestion regarding energy and you have to turn it into racism? Get off your soapbox... wasted energy concerns everybody...has nothing to do with any race...
  **** agree with the idea, and I'm aligned with the cultural elements who are likely to continue reminding us that we have actually passed the energy watershed. However, the ownership of the mass media is concentrated in the hands of the same people who've invested heavily in petroleum, and in Middle East "stability" (read "run by white people"), and in other concerns which dictate continued global warming and genocide.***
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Dingo, 16 Dec 2006 @ 9:47am

BOINC will be running
I will be leaving all the PC's and servers running and crunching BOINC work over the Christmas holiday and all other holidays. BOINC@AUSTRALIA at http://boinc-australia.net welcomes all Aussies and ex pats to join their team.

Dingo
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Anonymous Bastard, 16 Dec 2006 @ 9:53am

10 Days OFF?!?
Wait...some people get 10 days off for the holidays? I'm lucky that i get christmas and new years day off at all, so my company tells me! with both of their "eves" happening on sunday, they don't even have to give us those off (or make them half days)

damn you all that work as non-sweatshop laborers (or if you're in the uk, labourers)
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- Celes, 18 Dec 2006 @ 8:31am
  
  Re: 10 Days OFF?!?
  I work in hospitality... I don't get Christmas OR New Year's (day or eve) off. You really are lucky that you do. (Or you chose a better line of work. ^_^)
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John Hunt, 16 Dec 2006 @ 10:20am

Bah ! Humbug !
My PC will stay on as it has 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week since March of this year. That was the last time it was switched off.(for 2 days)
P.S. http://boinc-australia.net welcomes Poms too! (well, they let me in!)
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Veebee, 16 Dec 2006 @ 12:00pm

Holidays?
Holidays? who gets holidays?
Certainly not my PC's. Boinc will be crunching and chomping like every other day, with a bit of F.E.A.R thrown in for fun.
There is no rest for the weary at Boinc@ Australia.
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- msbadol, 10 Mar 2007 @ 12:11pm
  
  Re: Holidays?
  Holidays are well over but I stumbbled over this
  and wanted to know is it OK to leave your PC on
  24/7 ...I turn my off every night. Is that not good?
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Wang, 16 Dec 2006 @ 2:01pm

Mine stay on
I am hoping christmas-gift-giving-man will be bringing me an extra PC that I can also leave on over the holidays with all the others that are currently BOINCing to find cures for major diseases. And yes, BOINC@Australia let me in too!
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Peet McKimmie (profile), 16 Dec 2006 @ 3:30pm

Proliferation of Viruses
It's worrying that this culture of "energy saving" is so prevalent in the computer world. People install virus scanners to protect their systems, set them to run at 4am so their work won't be interrupted, go away and... Some busybody switches their machine off before leaving.

End result, the antivirus software gives them a false sense of security, while never actually being run. Oh, but it will download upgrades and incur recurring charges on the corporate bank account...

Pessimist Peet.
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Red Dog1, 16 Dec 2006 @ 3:37pm

Keep them up
I think a good comprimise would be to leave the servers up but power down all the workstations in the building along with the lights, might just save a few bucks.....
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bugsy3333, 16 Dec 2006 @ 5:53pm

o..my..god
i just stumbled into this quagmire of inane "dialog".
do yourselves a favor and turn off your computers forever.
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MissingFrame, 16 Dec 2006 @ 6:52pm

But then furnaces will work harder!
Sure, save electricity on your PC but what would normally just be converted to heat now has to be compensated for by the furnace. Net sum zero?
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- florida cracker, 18 Dec 2006 @ 10:13am
  
  Re: But then furnaces will work harder!
  You are assuming that heat is needed. I am here in Florida and it is one week from christmas and the AC is pumping in cold air 24/7. The more PC's we have on here the more AC we need to keep them cool.
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infinigeek, 16 Dec 2006 @ 7:47pm

Waste Management Has You Covered.
No need to turn off those computers... Waste Management is installing incinerators and what not... so just make you throw all of your stuff away, also... make sure that you DON'T RECYCLE.... that way they have more waste to burn :)
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Danny, 16 Dec 2006 @ 8:45pm

Using waste to burn as a heat source is a recycling. (not being a jerk, is the definition of the word)
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2006 @ 2:49am

Isn't there still a power on LANish option?

Not that that's secure...
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bill, 17 Dec 2006 @ 3:39am

a lot of people work through the holidays believe it or not. shutting off the servers is most likely out of the question. and a lot of people connect to their desktops at work with PC anywhere or GotomyPC.
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sugarengine, 17 Dec 2006 @ 12:46pm

Tell to run Folding @ home instead
Instead of turning them off, run folding at home and help advance things like cancer research.
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AdminSeek, 17 Dec 2006 @ 1:10pm

Other Reason
Another reason to turn off your computer during an extended stay is that there will be less chance your system(s) get hacked into.

www.AdminSeek.net :: When you need forum staff!
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Crystalwizard, 17 Dec 2006 @ 4:56pm

Laugh all you want but
turning my computer and monitor off when not at home or asleep at night was something I started several months ago. Didn't change anything else. My monthly electric bill dropped by about 45%
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Peet McKimmie (profile), 18 Dec 2006 @ 2:32am

Re: Laugh all you want but
Just to put this in context, can we assume you do most or all of your cooking and heating by gas? I can well believe a computer making up about 45% of a "computer, TV and lighting" bill, but not 45% of a "computer, TV, lighting, heating and cooking" bill. I have one or two computers running pretty much 24/7, and I knocked 25% off my monthly bill by investing in low-energy light bulbs.
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IT PRO, 18 Dec 2006 @ 5:42am

Power...
Duh... This is a standard practice and has been known a long time to turn off PC's during holiday breaks. Such a Non-Story.
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- Unknowledgeable Geek, 18 Dec 2006 @ 6:37am
  
  Re: Power...
  Must be obvious and a nonstory because look at all the people that agree with you.
  
  Idiot!!
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Brian Zero, 18 Dec 2006 @ 6:21am

Re: furnaces will work harder
Net sum zero? I don't think so. There is a certain thing called efficiency.

PCs may produce a lot of heat but that's all INEFFICIENCY. A lot of research has gone into making them produce as little heat as possible, though clearly there's a long way to go with that one.

Whereas a 'furnace' is optimised to produce heat as efficiently as possible. There's virtually no processing power generated as an unwanted by-product of a furnace.

So generally, a furnace produces more heat with less energy than even an AMD Athlon! (don't get me wrong - I'm an AMD person but that was one hot processor family!)
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Beau, 18 Dec 2006 @ 6:46am

It's all about the president!
If you're not using your PC for anything while you're gone just turn it off. I know it's hard to resist, but your IRC buddies really don't care about your uptime. Your system ticks has no effect on the leet-o-meter, I'm sorry :(
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Kevin, 18 Dec 2006 @ 9:51am

WHAT? AND MISS MY SECURITY UPDATES?!
Is IBM on crack?

We are BEGGING people to leave the PC's on all the time so that Marimba can get the pc's updated. They have to get their securit updates, patches, and fixes. Not to mention that the symantec services go out and find the definition updates a bit better when there's power to the cpu.

IBM, you have your Bean Counters running your IT department.
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2006 @ 10:14am
  
  Re: WHAT? AND MISS MY SECURITY UPDATES?!
  It was Canon that made the recomendation, not IBM.
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  - Kevin, 18 Dec 2006 @ 10:54am
    
    Re: Re: WHAT? AND MISS MY SECURITY UPDATES?!
    My bad.
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  - Kevin, 18 Dec 2006 @ 10:55am
    
    Re: Re: WHAT? AND MISS MY SECURITY UPDATES?!
    My bad.
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Beerhunter, 18 Dec 2006 @ 12:25pm

If you have a Dell laptop w/ Sony batteries it is probably a good idea to turn it off.... forever.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2006 @ 1:31pm

repetative power on/offs can damage the circuitry of the compter.

be forewarned
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