Use less power and improve battery life

Use less power and improve battery life

Computers can use a lot of power. By using some simple energy-saving strategies, you can reduce your energy bill and help the environment.

General tips

• Suspend your computer when you are not using it. This significantly reduces the amount of power it uses, and it can be woken up very quickly.
• Turn off]] the computer when you will not be using it for longer periods. Some people worry that turning off a computer regularly may cause it to wear out faster, but this is not the case.
• Use the Power preferences in Settings to change your power settings. There are a number of options that will help to save power: you can automatically dim the display after a certain time, reduce the display brightness and have the computer automatically suspend if you have not used it for a certain period of time.
• Turn off any external devices (like printers and scanners) when you are not using them.

Laptops, netbooks, and other devices with batteries

• Reduce the screen brightness: powering the screen accounts for a significant fraction of a laptop power consumption. Most laptops have buttons on the keyboard (or a keyboard shortcut) that you can use to reduce the brightness.
• If you do not need an Internet connection for a little while, turn off the wireless/Bluetooth card. These devices work by broadcasting radio waves, which takes quite a bit of power. Some computers have a physical switch that can be used to turn it off, whereas others have a keyboard shortcut that you can use instead. You can turn it on again when you need it.