Green Daily

We're always looking for good ways to conserve electricity. Sometimes it's as easy as turning off the lights when you leave a room, reading a good book instead of watching TV, or going for a walk instead of taking a drive.

But if you rely on computers for work or play, you might find yourself living with an energy hog that's on almost every waking hour of the day. As part of Blog Action Day, here's a list of 7 ways to reduce your PC's energy consumption. I originally wrote this list up for Download Squad.Turn your computer off when you're not using it

Right, I know this is obvious, but just like your lights, TV, radio, or car, it's a pretty good idea to turn off your computer when you're not using it.

Most modern PCs have nifty sleep or hibernation modes if you want to shut them almost all the way down. They'll start up faster when you need them than if you had shut them all the way down, while drawing far less power. Of course, standby isn't the same thing as off, and if you really want to do your part to conserve energy, nothing beats a complete shutdown. Here are a few easy ways to make sure your PC is off when you don't need it:

1. Auto Shutdown is a Firefox add-on that will turn your PC off as soon as your web browser is finished downloading files. If you often to leave your computer on all night just to download some large file or other, it might be worth keeping this utility around.
2. Shutdown After and WinOFF are more advanced tools that let you shut down your PC at a specific time. If you're downloading a file, rendering a video, or performing some other task, odds are you have a rough idea of how long it will take. If your computer won't need to be on anymore by 3am, schedule a shutdown.
3. If you like to perform regular tasks like backing up your files to an external hard drive in the middle of the night, there's no need to leave your computer running all night. You can use the Schedule Tasks feature in Windows Vista or XP to wake your computer from sleep mode, perform a task, and then go back to sleep.

Adjust your power settings

Turning your PC off isn't the only way to reduce power. There are also a bunch of ways to conserve energy by adjusting Windows settings.

1. Windows Vista may have bugs and over-emphatic security warnings. But it also includes advanced power management features missing from Windows XP. By upgrading to Windows Vista and adjusting your power settings carefully, you can save up to $75 a year on your electric bill.
2. If you're already running Windows Vista, you might want to check out Vista Battery Saver. This gives you even more control over your power settings. For example, you can automatically dim your screen, shut off your Windows Vista Sidebar and other graphics enhancements whenever you unplug your computer. If your battery lasts longer, you won't have to charge your computer as often.
3. CO2Saver is an application that runs in the background of Windows XP and Vista machines and adjusts your power settings automatically. If you haven't used your PC for a while, CO2 Saver will jump in and lower your performance settings.
4. You can also save some energy simply by turning off your screen saver. Once upon a time screen savers helped protect monitors from damage. Now they just suck electricity. Setting your screen saver to "blank" will cause a blank screen to pop up when you haven't touched your keyboard or mouse for a while.

This list barely scratches the surface. I haven't touched on power saving utilities for Macs or Linux machines. The overall point is that it is possible to have both a computer and a low energy bill.