Other Tips for an Energy Efficient Office

Here are a few other tips and things to watch for in making the office an energy efficient operation.

• Power management features reduce energy consumption, but energy is still used in the power down mode. For greatest savings, turn equipment off at the power source when not in use overnight or on weekends. Plug-in timers automatically turn equipment off at the power sources at certain times of day. They are especially useful for copiers and printers. For copiers, be sure to check with the equipment supplier to find out if the copier needs to remain on continuously.  
• If the computer must be left on at night and weekends, save energy costs by turning off the monitor. Turn the monitor off if the computer will not be used for a half-hour or so. Monitors typically use more energy than the computer itself.  
• Power-saver features need to be set up by the user on many products. Check the setup when you install new equipment and periodically to ensure that the power-saver functions are still working.  
• Screen savers do not save energy. Their purpose is to extend the useful life of the screen and avoid images being "burned" into the screen. Make sure the screen saver is compatible with the power management features of the computer and that the settings allow the unit to go into the power saver mode.  
• Laser printers consume more energy than inkjet printers. Color printers use more energy than black and white.  
• Liquid crystal displays use less energy than conventional monitors.

Laptops draw about one-tenth the power of a conventional desktop computer. You can connect a laptop computer to a conventional monitor and still save almost half the energy of a standard computer.