Power consumption is a leading concern of laptop users everywhere and proper use of the power utilities can lessen the load place upon the battery of the laptop. A few simple steps can be taken to preserve and conserve energy. First, if your laptop is capable of it, and it probably is, set the sleep or stand by settings to be turned on. These usually have a time set before which they will turn on. Depending upon your usage, this could be set to 5 minutes or to an hour; most average users set it to around 1/2 hour. If buying a new system choose a model with an LCD as they use less power and often have specific voltage and brightness controls to help in energy conservation.

The power utility in your laptop is the best place to start in power conservation . In Windows the path to the power utility looks something like this: Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> Power Options. This is the area that will allow you to set the time for the monitor to turn off as well as your hard drive and the amount of time it takes to switch to stand by. Power schemes are also available that have preset parameters like “Home/Desktop” or “Portable/Laptop.” These settings will automatically set the times for the typical laptop or home user. The provided “time” fields will be automatically filled in with the appropriate numbers and settings.

You can freely change any of these preset numbers in the selection made. For instance, if the setting shows 45 minutes to turn off the monitor you could change it to 30 minutes, an hour or whatever value you deem necessary. The average laptop can consume up to $50.00 a year in energy costs but using these simple utilities can help reduce this by half.

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