The number of homes with computers and home office equipment continues to grow at a rapid pace. Many computers and other types of home office equipment are left on constantly, even though they may be used only intermittently.

Today there are many energy saving or "power management" features available in all types of computers and home office equipment. Most major manufacturers of computer and home office equipment offer these power management features as part of the Energy Star Program established by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. This program establishes minimum standards and power management guidelines for computers and office equipment.

Your computer or other home office equipment may already incorporate some of these features. Read the owner's manual for each piece of equipment you use. Information on power management features is often provided in a chapter dedicated solely for this purpose. It is important to understand what features your equipment offers and how they operate. In many cases, power management features can be set to minimum or maximum levels depending on your specific uses. Here are some additional tips for conserving energy with computers and home office equipment. We recommend you share these suggestions with others who use your equipment.

General Tips

Computers

• Turn your computer off when not in use. This is the single most important thing you can do to reduce energy consumption. Much of the energy use associated with computers is wasted because PC's are often left on when not in use, including nights, weekends, and even extended periods of inactivity during the day. Most experts agree that turning your computer on and off will have no significant effect on their operation or life.
• Turn off your display device or monitor when not in use. If you must leave your computer on for network applications or other purposes, it makes sense to turn off monitors. Monitors consume a significant portion of the energy used by PC’s. Trends toward larger displays, more color, and higher resolution have increased the amount of energy required to operate monitors.
• Use a laptop. A typical laptop computer has a maximum power consumption of 15 watts, and extensive power management capabilities. A typical desktop PC, with display, consumes about 10 times that or 150 watts, and has limited power management features. The potential energy savings from substituting PC’s with portable laptops are large, up to 90% or more.

Printers

• Turn printers off when not in use. Printers are typically left on for extended periods of time but are active only for only a small percentage of that time.
• Select the best printer for your needs. Laser printers typically have the highest print quality, but they consume a great deal of energy. While ink-jet printers generally have lower print quality, they use much less energy. Recent advances in ink-jet technology have substantially improved print quality and speeds are now comparable to laser printers. Ink-jet printers are less expensive than laser printers, and when the cost of consumables (toner, servicing, etc.) is considered, the difference is even greater. It is important to point out that color ink-jet printers, because of the way they operate, are not significantly more efficient than color laser printers.
• Select a printer with power management capabilities. Printers with automatic "power down" features can reduce electricity use by over 65%. Printers automatically power down to 15 - 45 watts, depending on the number of pages per minute produced, after specified periods of inactivity.

Fax Machines

• Select a fax machine with power management capabilities. Fax machines are generally turned on 24 hours-a-day to receive incoming messages. However, on average they are actually in use for only about 5% of the total time they are turned on. Fax machines with power management features can reduce energy costs by almost 50%.
• Avoid using full-page cover sheets. Use stick-on labels on the first page of your fax. This will not only reduce the energy use of the fax machine, but it will also save paper and telephone charges.
• Consider a plain paper fax machine. Faxes printed on thermal paper are often copied onto plain paper, increasing the energy demand of copiers and paper costs. In addition, thermal paper costs about five times more than plain paper. This price difference can more than make up for the increased cost of a plain paper fax machine in less than a year. Thermal paper is also not recyclable.

Copiers

• The simplest thing you can do to save energy is to turn your copier off when not in use. You may want to consider installing a simple plug-in timer to automatically turn the machine on and off.
• Choose a copier that is correctly sized to your needs. The amount of energy use of a copier is directly related to copy volume capacity.
• Be sure that any energy-saving features are enabled. Because copier speeds are tested with these features turned off, copiers are often shipped with the energy-saving mode disabled.

What to look for when making a purchasing decision

As mentioned earlier, many manufacturers of computers and home office equipment now offer energy-saving power management features. Products incorporating this technology are most easily recognized by the Energy Star label, located directly on the product itself. If you are unsure about the power management features of a particular product, ask the retailer if the product you are considering qualifies as an Energy Star rated product. Ask to see the power management specifications of the equipment you are buying. Some other benefits of equipment with power management features are:

• By using built-in "power down" modes, and remembering to turn off your equipment when not in use, you can extend the life of computers and home office equipment significantly.
• Products using power management features generate up to 25% less heat and tend to be quieter than conventional products.

The chart below illustrates the potential energy savings between conventional computers and home office equipment, and products that feature power management technologies.