Running 24/7?

I agree about 50% with Toasale. The room with our 2 towers does stay a "few" degrees warmer then the rest of our home. Ok, in the winter but a bit uncomfortable in the summer. Whether it is harder on the hdds to run 24/7 or to be turned on and off is still IMO unproven. Sooooo....for the sake of the heat alone we have decided to turn both of them off at night. A period of 6 to 10 hours. (I do not sleep much) However, to help prevent the heat build-up associated with initial shut-down I just ordered a couple of the "after shut-down" fan power supplies mentioned in a previous post. Plan on powering the processor fan and 120mm case fan with them.

 

Does anyone know the effects on an iMac running 24 hours a day? It seems to me there wouldn't be sufficent air flow through that all in one casing. Also do those devices that safely shut down your computer in the event of a power failure work for Mac's?

 

I found a mac forum on the subject. About half say they use Sleep mode. The other half run 24/7. It seems there's no more agreement on Imac than with a PC.

 

Thanks for the Info.

 

No, it's on when I'm using it and off when I sleep or leave the house. It also shortens the life span of the hardware. I also shut my amp, speakers, monitor off too.

 

My desktop is on 24/6, most of the time. There's usually a day where I shut it off.

I run it constantly for VNC connections from away and to constantly seed torrents.

Laptop is either asleep or off when not in use.

 

No, it is a waste of energy and money.
Just can not wait several minutes?
Ridiculous!

 

In some cases, maybe so.
Mine are on all the time cause I run Seti and Einstein.

 

One last thought to all of you that run 24/7. Do you also leave your car or truck running 24/7?? I really don't see much difference. it just puts undo stress and wear on the moving parts and increases the possibility of a breakdown.

 

One last thought to your last thought. It is proven that the greatest strain, wear and tear on an engine is at start-up with-in the first few seconds prior to the oil being circulated.

However since there is no lubrication to be circulated through the moving parts of a PC is it really an apples to apples comparison?

Since my initial post of mine being on 24/7 things have changed. We acquired a second lap top which the Wife no happily surfs with wirelessly from the comfort of our living room. The only PC that runs most of the time is now mine which acts a printer server for the 4 PC network.

 

Not really since the motor in the hdd is lubricated does have bearings does create heat when it runs.

 

Partially in agreement. The hdd does have bearings and I am sure some type of lubrication. In my years working on PCs` I have never tore a hdd apart. Have a basic understanding of their internals and its` workings. But, (you knew that was coming) unlike an engine, the lubrication is basically constantly in place and not being pumped up from a lower\other location (oil pan).

 

Same as Long View. Working = ON Not Working = OFF

 

Yes. It does use energy, but rebooting certainly puts more stress on the hardware than keeping it running as long as it won't overheat.

 

Too noisy to have on 24/7, also I have no use for it 24/7 either.

 

I shut down anything electrical that I don't use... ...except the refrigerator.

 

Main server and main workstation on 24/7, since the server backs up the workstation when the humans are asleep.

 

As my amp uses vacuum tubes and there is a significant warm up time required to achieve the correct sound, when I am indoors, I just leave it on.

 

No and Here Is Why, In my area we are powered by united illuminating power company and there rates has Increased by 50 percent or better and If you seen my electric bill every month you just might go shopping for candles.

 

I voted but looks like I forgot to post.

Yes. I run my computers (4) 24/7.

My computers are turned off for cleaning, if I leave for more than a day, it gets to hot or when the power fails. (A common occurrence here.) When power goes UPS's take care of the shutdown.

Reasons? Well my backups are scheduled for the wee hours of the morning, as are my malware scans. I also run distributed computing applications on all 4 machines.

 

You cannot honestly tell me that your electric bill is alot more with your pc on. Its more stress on your hard drives to keep booting up, ateast thats what I read. I always leave me on and reboot when necessary.

 

This is old, but i think would still be good.http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/38757/Step_One_PC_On_or_Off.html?detectflash=false&

 

I have been shutting my computers off since there was such a thing as a personal computer (it's been a long time) and have never had a problem from it. the old wifes tall that it is hard on the HD to shut off and start just doesn't wash from my experience. your computer needs to be shut off regurarlly so it can do it's in house file clean up and arranging as boot it when most of it is done. That is why after a software install it is common for it to need a reboot so it can put everything in place. And one thing to remember is that as long as electronics are on they create heat and heat is the number one killer of electronic components. even when a computer is asleep it is still creating heat in it's parts, not much but a little. Since i have not seen anything detrimental from turning a comp off I don't see any advantage in leaving one on. And letting one stay hibernated to avoid the boot up time is silly to me. I am just not in that big a hurry that I can't wait while my comp boots.