• PC World
• »Consumer Advice

Power It Down

Turn it off. Take a look at the monitor in front of you, and you'll notice a little light next to the power button. Chances are, when you shut off your PC, the screen goes black and the indicator light turns yellow, signaling that the monitor has "gone to sleep." Sleep mode uses a lot less energy than full-power mode, but it still draws anywhere from 1 to 5 watts of power (and on some devices, it may draw much more).

Environmentalists refer to this energy expenditure as a "vampire load"; and while any single device may add just a couple of dollars a year to your power bill, the combined cost of all the "sleeping" equipment in your house--speakers, printers, stereo components, the microwave, TVs, and maybe your PC--can really add up.

Don't just let hardware go to sleep when you're done using it: Turn it off. Modern equipment has no trouble handling the physical stress of being turned on and off, and you can save enough money over the course of a year by eliminating vampire loads to pay for a nice dinner out--typically $50 to $100. (Check out Becky Waring's April 2006 Power Saving Tips column, "Save Money by Putting Your PC on a Power Diet," for more information on what you can do to reduce your hardware's power use.)

Switch to an LCD. If you haven't already upgraded your monitor, consider doing so. Besides saving desktop space, you'll save money on electricty. A 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 for a typical U.S. user. (Click here to see our latest LCD reviews.)

But what about the rest of your hardware? Usually it's easy to find the power consumption ratings on hardware packaging before you buy. To compare a new item that you're considering to a product that you already have (and whose package has long since disappeared), buy an inexpensive portable power meter. Models such as the Kill A Watt (about $20 to $30) let you see precisely how much energy a plug-in gadget uses. And since the readout occurs in real time, you can gauge the gadget's power consumption in sleep mode as well as during active use.

Use Free Energy

Power up with the sun. Solar power technology is improving and getting cheaper all the time. These days, you can easily find solar-based products for charging your phone, your MP3 player, and even your laptop.

For example, Solio's solar power charger ($79, with connectors for either cell phones or an iPod) isn't much bigger than a music player and generates up to 8 watts of continuous power--enough to recharge your phone or PDA in a couple of hours. Voltaic's solar bags ($239) put out similar power and come in convenient bags; the four models include backpack and messenger bag forms. And ScotteVest makes several models of jackets (starting at about $250) that are designed to hold electronic gear; a flat, flexible solar panel mounted on the back recharges all your gear on the go. The panel's charging cord runs through hidden pockets inside the ScotteVest coat, so you never have to worry about getting tangled up.

None of these chargers will work with your laptop, however. That task calls for a combination of solar panels and an external battery to store the charge. One such combo ($345), from RadioLabs, works with most laptops.

Recycle via the company that made your gear. Some companies, like Dell and Apple, will recycle your old computer for free when you buy a new computer from them. Apple will even take 10 percent off the price of a new iPod if you turn in your old one at any Apple Store.

HP goes even further, offering a trade-in discount on all kinds of new hardware if you send the company your old printer, camera, computer, or similar hardware for recycling. Even computers from a few years ago can command a trade-in value of up to several hundred dollars. Meanwhile, competing peripheral manufacturers, such as Lexmark and Canon, offer basic fee-based recycling of their products--a roundabout way of saying that you pay them to get rid of the old equipment.

Canadian buyers Toshiba notebooks can take advantage of the company's TERRE (Toshiba's Environmental Recovery and Recycling Effort) program, which currently offers a free USB flash drive as an incentive for turning in a nonfunctional laptop for recycling--all the participant needs to do is print out a UPS label from the Toshiba Web site.

It's a good idea to check your vendor's site for information about its recycling programs; you may have to pay a recycling fee if you aren't buying something new, but the vendor will take the unwanted device off your hands and dispose of it properly.

Bonus tip: Remember to remove all of your data from any hardware you choose to recycle before sending it in. Check out Andrew Brandt's February 2006 Privacy Watch column, "Make Sure Your Old Computer Tells No Tales," for tips on wiping your PC, and read his March Privacy Watch column, "Wipe Your Cell Phone's Memory Before Giving It Away," for tips on erasing data from your cell phone.