Want Energy-Efficient Electronics? Follow These Top Green Tips!
Energy-efficient electronics save energy and money. Using easily-available energy-saving computers, laptops and other office equipment also helps reduce air pollution and climate change because they require less fuel to power up and operate.
1. Buy a laptop rather than a PC. You’ll save five times as much energy.
2. Switch to an LCD monitor. The typical old-style 20-inch CRT monitor consumes about 150 watts of power, while a new 20-inch flat-panel LCD uses about 30 watts; the difference in energy expense amounts to about $20 a year.
3. Choose highly efficient power supply units. Look for the “80 Plus” label, which indicates the power supply is at least 80 percent efficient.
4. Buy ENERGY STAR equipment. Over their lifetime, ENERGY STAR computers, monitors, printers and fax machines in a single home office can save enough electricity to light an entire home for more than four years.
5. Turn off the monitor if you’re taking a break of twenty minutes or more.
6. Turn off both the CPU and the monitor if you’ll be away from your computer for more than two hours.
7. Plug all your electronics into one power strip so you can easily disconnect from the power supply. 40 percent of the energy electronics consume is when they’re turned off but still plugged in.
8. Activate the “power down” or sleep mode feature on your computer to save as much as 70 percent of the energy it uses.
9. Skip the screen saver. It’s an energy waster.
10. Upgrade rather than buy new. Add more memory and use software to extend the life of existing equipment.
Get more tips on computer purchasing and recycling here.
Electronics use 40% of the energy they consume when they’re turned off! Save energy by plugging into a power strip. See models here.
