Saving Electricity home As seen in Newsweek, Forbes, NPR, the Christian Science Monitor, CNET, PC Magazine, InfoWorld, and everywhere else. About  
Rebates & Tax Credits
for U.S. consumers

Incentives for installing insulation and for buying energy-efficient appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners are often available from local and state governments and utilities. You can see what's available at DSIRE, Energy.gov, and Energy Star.

Related sites:

Home Power Magazine. All about renewable energy for the home.

No-Impact Man. Blog about a family striving to have no net impact. (i.e., What little they use, they offset.) Inspirational.

Off-Grid. News and resources about living without being connected to a utility company.

Mr. Electricity in the news:

"Michael Bluejay runs the outstanding Saving Electricity site that I've mentioned many times before." —J.D. Roth, Get Rich Slowly

Deep Green (book) by Jenny Nazak, 2018
Small Steps, Big Strides: Building Sustainability Habits at Home (book), Lucinda F. Brown, 2016
How much money you'll save with these common energy-saving strategies, Lifehacker, Sep. 28, 2015
Radio interview about saving electricity, Newstalk 1010 (Toronto), April 21, 2015
How much does your PC cost in electricity?, PC Mech, Nov 21, 2013
How Much Electricity Do Your Gadgets Really Use?, Forbes, Sep. 7, 2013
Can my bicycle power my toaster?, Grist, June 10, 2013
Six summer debt traps and how to avoid them, Main St, June 5, 2013
To convert to gas or electric?, Marketplace Radio (NPR), July 20, 2012
8 Simple Ways to Reduce Household Waste, Living Green Magazine, June 29, 2012
Why is my electric bill so high?, New York Daily News, Mar. 27, 2012
Fight the Power, CTV (Canada's largest private broadcaster), Mar. 23, 2012
How to Cut Your Electric Bill, Business Insider, Mar. 20, 2012
Tips to save energy when using your computer, WPLG Channel 10 (Miami, FL), Feb. 23, 2012
How long will it take an energy-efficient washer/dryer to pay for itself?, Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 29, 2011
10 Easy Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill, Forbes, August 23, 2011
18 ways to save on utility bills, AARP, July 9, 2011
How to Save $500 Worth of Energy This Summer, TIME magazine, June 28, 2011
Hot over the energy bill? Turn off the A/C, just chill, Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2011
Cool Site of the Day, Kim Komando (syndicated radio host), May 29, 2011
This calculator shows how much you spend washing clothes, Lifehacker, May 6, 2011
What you pay when you're away, WCPO Channel 9 (Cincinatti), May 5, 2011
Spotting energy gluttons in your home, Chicago Tribune (CA), Apr. 7, 2011
Walnut Creek author has tips for livng a thrifty life, Contra Costa Times (CA), Jan. 24, 2011
Do space heaters save money and energy?, Mother Jones, Jan. 10, 2011
Energy steps to take for a less pricey winter, Reuters, Nov. 10, 2010
Should you shut down your computer or put it to sleep?, Mother Jones, Nov. 1, 2010
Energy saving tips for fall, Chicago Tribune & Seattle Times Nov. 7, 2010
10 ways to save money on your utility bill, Yahoo! Finance, Oct. 2, 2010
Mr. Electricity Ranks Refrigerators & Electrical Wasters, Green Building Elements, Sep. 8, 2010
The case against long-distance relationships, Slate, Sep. 3, 2010
10 household items that are bleeding you dry, Times Daily (Florence, AL), July 27, 2010
Cold, hard cash, Kansas City Star, June 22, 10
Stretch your dollar, not your budget, Globe and Mail, May 18, 2010
Auto abstinence, onearth magazine, Winter 2010
2010 Frugal Living Guide, Bankrate.com
Energy-saving schemes yield €5.8m in savings, Times of Malta, Dec. 20, 09
Four ways to reduce your PC's carbon footprint, CNET, Dec 2, 09
The day I hit the brakes, onearth magazine, Fall 2009
How Much Do You Really Save By Air-Drying Your Clothes?, The Simple Dollar, 2010
Enjoy the mild weather, low electricity bills, Detroit Free Press, Jul 18, 09
The most energy-efficient way to heat a cup of water, Christian Science Monitor, Jun 16, 09
Ten ways to save energy, Times of Malta, Jan 3, 09
Measuring your green IT baseline, InfoWorld, Sep 4, 08
Bald Brothers Breakfast (MP3), ABC Adelaide, March 27, 2007
Net Interest, Newsweek, Feb 12, 07
The Power Hungry Digital Lifestyle, PC Magazine, Sep 4, 07
Net Interest, Newsweek, Feb 12, 07
Answers to all your electricity questions, Treehugger, Jul 11, 08 Going Green, Monsters and Critics, Jan 6, 2007
A hunt for energy hogs, Wall Street Journal Online, Dec 18, 06

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What's the difference between Sleep, Standby, and Hibernate?

Last update: November 2010

Standby puts your computer into energy-saving mode, where it uses very little power.

Hibernate saves your workspace (all your open windows), then turns the computer off.

The difference is that hibernate saves more energy because the computer goes off completely, but it takes longer for the computer to wake up from hibernation, so it's not as convenient.


Standby
Hibernate

Energy Use

1-6 watts
0 watts

Time to sleep/wake up

a few seconds
30 secs. to 3 minutes

Sleep is more complicated, because it means different things on different computers.

  • Mac OS, desktop. Sleep is the same as Standby. There is no built-in way to Hibernate.
  • Mac OS, laptop. Sleep initially means Standby, but if the battery level drops very low then the laptop automatically Hibernates. See below for more on this.
  • Windows Vista. Sleep initially means Standby, but it switches to Hibernate if the battery level drops too low (laptop) or the computer has been sleeping for more than three hours (both desktops & laptops). You can change the 3-hour period to something else in Settings > Power Options.
  • Windows XP. ???

 

Hibernate on Windows Vista

     As mentioned above, Hibernate happens automatically in Windows Vista for both laptops and desktops after the computer has been sleeping for a while. Laptop users can skip to the chase and just choose Hibernate manually. That option isn't available to desktop users by default, but this article shows how to enable Hibernate for desktop computers. It's also helpful if the Hibernate option has disappeared from your laptop for some reason.

 

Hibernate on Mac OS ("Safe Sleep")

     Apple calls Hibernation "Safe Sleep". That's what I'll call it too for the rest of this article.

     Apple doesn't see fit to let the user choose Safe Sleep on their computers.  Safe Sleep happens on laptops only if it's sleeping and the battery level drops too low, and even then only on PowerBooks made after October 2005.  You can override that behavior and get your Mac (laptop or desktop) to Safe Sleep immediately on demand with software like Deep Sleep, SmartSleep, or  SuspendNow (or see the hacks at Mac Simple Life or MacWorld).

     (Trivia: Apple used to let users choose Safe Sleep. On the old clamshell iBooks, circa 2000-01, running Mac OS 9, there was an option called "Preserve memory contents on sleep".)


Which should you use:  Standby, Hibernate, or Shut Down?

     You probably want Standby, because it's the most convenient.  With Standby it takes only a few seconds for your computer to wake up.  With Hibernate or Shut Down, you have to wait 30 seconds to 3 minutes for it to start up again.

     Hibernate or Shut Down will save more energy, but not much.  Six watts x 23 hours a day x 30 days a month is 4.1 kWh, which at 15¢/kWh would cost you 62¢/mo.  If that kind of savings is important to you, then sure, hibernate or shut down your computer.  Otherwise, just set your computer to standby so that it wakes up quickly the next time you want to use it, and don't worry about the very small difference in energy use.

 

Related articles

Is this article inaccurate or outdated?

If you spot any errors or missing info, please let me know.