Is it true?

Switching off the light will result in less energy being consumed, so it will always result in lower electricity bills.  In terms of both total overall cost to yourself and any impact on the environment, however, you have to factor in the life of the lamp itself.   If the lamp needs to be replaced more frequently due to regular switching on and off, then anything saved on keeping it burning for longer is completely absorbed by the cost of more frequent replacement and all the associated manufacturing and disposal issues.   Compact fluorescent lamps in particular are best left switched on unless the "off" period is going to be reasonably lengthy.

Even a regular filament lamp can have its life shortened by excessive switching on and off unnecessarily.   Have you noticed how often a bulb blows at the instant you switch it on?   It's the thermal shock of the sudden inrush of current on a cold filament.   

I've known people who will switch off all the living room lights just to visit the bathroom for two minutes then turn them all back on again.  The tiny amount of power saved for that two minutes is completely negated by the extra strain on the lamps. 

It really comes down to a happy medium.  If you're leaving the room for an indefinite period, switch off.  If you're going to be back in 10 minutes, leave them on.

Thanks, Paul

My boyfriend leaves the lights on a lot more than me.

It does seem like, overall, the UK is ahead of the US in regards to conservation of resources.

I think the filling up the sink is partly due to the taps and not just water conservation, think of the amount of water it takes to fill a sink enough to wash the face or brush the teeth.

I think size definitely matters here. The UK is roughly the size of like three states, AND it's an island. There's only so much land and resources to go around. The Britsh have to be conservative otherwise everything would have run out by now.

I think it's a great idea that the electrical outlets have the switch to turn them on and off. I wish I had that at home, it seems a good idea to save wasted energy.

I have a cousin back home with an electricity bill of $500 per month. When I stayed over, I noticed her family leave the kitchen light over the stove on all night.....and the computer on... I secretly turned them off after everyone went to bed... 

No recycling either. The only thing she was conscious of was the water because where she's at in Calif its an issue and she was moaning about water being shipped down from NorCal to So Cal to water the plants in Palm Springs.. not sure how accurate that is but at least she's conscious of that!

Only thing I leave on constantly is the computer, it's bad for them to be turned on and off constantly, if you can leave it on, leave it on.

Bad for them how?


Vicky

Bad for them how?


Vicky

Apparently it's just an unnecessary strain on the components.  I've definitely noticed that the computers I have diligently turned on and off don't last as long and have more data issues than those I leave in hibernate.  It really depends on how much you use it, if it's once a day for 5 minutes then best to turn it off, if you use it a lot, using the hibernate or sleep option is better.

This is quite an interesting article about it -

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-computers-sleep

and

http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/webonly/techsupport/04w10/04w10.asp&guid

I've known people who will switch off all the living room lights just to visit the bathroom for two minutes then turn them all back on again.  The tiny amount of power saved for that two minutes is completely negated by the extra strain on the lamps. 

It really comes down to a happy medium.  If you're leaving the room for an indefinite period, switch off.  If you're going to be back in 10 minutes, leave them on.

I have tried to explain this to all the menfolk in my house.

Apparently it's just an unnecessary strain on the components. 

This is one of those debates which has raged (well, simmered might be a better word) for years.  Arguments for leaving on are that connections and components don't suffer from repeated thermal expansion and contraction.  Arguments for switching off are mostly on the basis of saving wear and tear on motor and drive bearings (apart from energy saving).    There has never really been anything conclusive either way, since there are many other variables in the equation.

I think it's a great idea that the electrical outlets have the switch to turn them on and off. I wish I had that at home, it seems a good idea to save wasted energy.

The switches don't save any energy that can't be saved without them.  If you have an appliance which when turned off with its own integral switch is truly turned completely off, then it's not using any power regardless of whether it's still connected to the wall outlet or not.

If it's one of those appliances which isn't really turned off as such but simply goes into standby mode, then without switches on the outlet you can just pull the plug anyway.

Only thing I leave on constantly is the computer, it's bad for them to be turned on and off constantly, if you can leave it on, leave it on.

Anyone turning off a computer that wasn't there's in our house would get whapped. I'm not sure if whapped is a word, but that's the word that comes to mind all the same! 

Anyone turning off a computer that wasn't there's in our house would get whapped. I'm not sure if whapped is a word, but that's the word that comes to mind all the same! 

I'm the same way. My computer is on constantly because even when I'm not working on it, it's usually performing some function or another, either downloading, or acting as a router or something. Seriously, I consider someone messing with my machine a privacy violation equivalent to rifling through my underwear drawer or reading my mail.

DB and I share our two computers, one laptop one desktop. His desktop is usually on, but my laptop gets turned on and off every day, twice a day during the week because he takes it with him to wait before work.

I like the switches on the outlets in the UK just for safety reasons. It does make me uneasy when I see the spark as I plug something in!

Anyone turning off a computer that wasn't there's in our house would get whapped. I'm not sure if whapped is a word, but that's the word that comes to mind all the same! 

Same here!  I wouldn't be too chuffed if I got up in the morning to find my downloads didn't finish overnight.   

Besides, it sounds funny but I just can't sleep without hearing the hum of the computer.  It's one of those background noise things i've become so used to.