What better way to start a new year off on the right foot than to implement new strategies to lower your energy bills? Mark Williams of TechNewsWorld put together a list of such tips for the household, which inspired me to come up with my own suggestions that you can put to use in the enterprise.

• Set computer displays to automatically switch off after five to 10 minutes of inactivity. This simple setting will ensure that computer monitors do not continue to guzzle energy while employees are out to lunch, on the phone, at an extended meeting, or simply gossiping by the water cooler.
• Ensure that computers or non-essential appliances such as printers and print-servers are switched off for the night. Considering that the typical office sees more non-work hours compared to office hours, computers or appliances that are left overnight end up consuming a disproportionate amount of energy that is simply wasted.
• Increasing the thermostat in your server room by just a few degrees can allow for substantial energy savings. While it is true that overheating can damage computer equipment, the culprit is often poor ventilation. On the other hand, it has been shown that a slight increase in temperature does not affect the efficiency of computer equipment.

Do let me know how the above tips work for you.  In the meantime, feel free to write to me for if you have any tips of your own to share!

For more on this story:
- check out this article at TechNewsWorld

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