Go Off Before You Go On Vacation

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As students, faculty and staff get ready to close up shop before the winter break, please consider doing these easy things to help with energy savings on campus.

The University of Arkansas holiday schedule provides significant savings in heating and energy costs by closing some offices during the period between Dec. 24 and Jan. 3. The savings come from lowered utility bills when the university doesn’t have to bring buildings up to the heating level needed for adequate working conditions. Also, it becomes unnecessary to heat water and there is no water consumption in bathrooms, utility sinks or drinking fountains. If snow falls, sidewalks and parking lots don’t need to be cleared as quickly as when the campus is fully staffed.

Before leaving for the break, remember to turn off and unplug:

• Computers and monitors

• Surge protectors

• Calculators

• Printers and copiers

• Lamps and space heaters

• Overhead lights and table lamps

In the break room: make sure all electric appliances are unplugged and the lights are turned off. You can save your department money and reduce waste.

In the common areas where possible, lower the thermostat to 55 degrees. Tightly close all windows, and give plants a little water.

“These simple ideas can help the University of Arkansas save energy, which translates into a savings in utility costs,” said Nick Brown, the director of campus sustainability. “While we encourage members of the campus community to help out before they scatter for the holiday break, these tips are applicable to other private homes and businesses as well.”

A computer left running over a 25-day period, for example, uses 5 kilowatt hours of power. If the University of Arkansas turns off all 10,000 campus computers, rather than letting them run in hibernation mode, it will save 50,000 kilowatt hours. That will prevent the university from emitting 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide over that 25-day period, Brown figured.

Keeping a single computer continuously running can cost $3 per year to power in the sleep mode. Multiply that by the number of computers on campus, and that translates into a $30,000 annual savings.

Finally, it’s not bad to turn off the computer. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are some general guidelines to help make that decision. Though there is a small surge in energy when a computer starts up, this small amount of energy is still less than the energy used when a computer is running for long periods of time. For energy savings and convenience, consider turning off:

• The monitor if it isn’t going to used for more than 20 minutes.

• Both the CPU and monitor if they're not going to be used for more than 2 hours.

Visit the Department of Energy’s Energy Savers Web site for more energy saving ideas.