Is it advisable to unplug the PC when it is not used?

How much energy do we save when unplugging the PC?

A computer that is turned off but connected to the electric current has a standby consumption of approximately 0.5 watts, so the simple act of saving energy could be a reason to unplug the PC from the power when we do not use it. However, you should know that even if we had the equipment a whole month off, but connected to the current, at the price at which the electricity is, you would be wasting approximately 5 euro cents per month.

The calculation is: 0.5 watts / 1000 (to pass it to kw), and the result is multiplied by 24 hours a day and 30 days a month. What will be the kWh consumed per month (0.36 kWh), and this should be multiplied by the price of kWh (approximately € 0.14 depending on the company and rate).

As you can see, it is a fairly insignificant amount in reality that for most people it would not be a reason to go plugging and unplugging The PC every time it is used.

Dangers of leaving the PC connected to the power

In reality, the dangers are the same, or even less, than any other appliance would have. For example, if the electrical installation is old, unstable or in poor conditionOf course we will have dangers of power surges, short circuits and others, but as we said, as with any other appliance that we have always plugged in, such as the fridge or microwave. In fact, even less because PC power supplies have advanced security systems to avoid such problems.

On the other hand, if you live in an area where there are many thunderstorms, these tend to cause electrical equipment failures. In this case, it is advisable to unplug the PC (and any appliance that is not used) because they could be damaged by storms. However, this is a climatic phenomenon that does not happen too often and that we won't have to worry either usually.

So is it advisable to unplug the PC?

As a general rule, it is not necessary to unplug the PC from the power. The consumption that you have in standby is really very small and will not suppose a hole in anyone's finances (remember that on average they will be 5 cents per month of consumption), and in terms of dangers, they are even less than those of any other household appliance.

Now, if at any given time there is a thunderstorm in the area, it is advisable to turn off and unplug as many electrical appliances as possible, as a precaution. Already if the problem comes from a poor electrical installation, it could be enough to have filters or a UPS to avoid problems, but in any case it would also be the same to unplug it or not.

It may also be advisable to unplug it if you are going to be away from home for a long time. And don't worry, because the motherboard stack is able to hold on for years.

In short, it is not that unplugging the PC when we do not use it is recommended or not, it is that as a general rule it has no negative impact that we have to worry about, except in the few cases that we have commented.