Myth When equipment is turned on, or powers up from sleep or suspend modes, there is often a current surge. The energy consumed during this current surge is so large that leaving your equipment in normal operating mode wastes less energy than turning it off or using power management features.
Reality Start-up current surges are of very short duration and at most they consume a few seconds of average running time energy. Whenever your equipment is not being used for more than a few minutes it makes sense to turn it off or switch to a lower power setting.

Myth Screen savers save energy.
Reality Screen savers are energy wasters. Most computers use about twice as much energy lighting up the screen as they use for processing. Originally, screen savers were designed to stop screens being burnt by a constant image, but they aren’t needed for modern screens. Not only can screen savers use as much energy as a full screen of work, but many require considerable processing energy as well. If you want to save energy you can set your screen saver to ‘none’ or ‘blank screen.’

Myth Turning off computers crashes the hard drive.
Reality Switching off computers will have no significant effect on the useful lifetime of the hard disk. In the past larger hard drives were degraded by mechanical stress. Today some manufacturers specify a life of 40,000 power cycles for their hard drives. That is equivalent to 30 stop/start cycles for each working day over five years.

Myth Turning off or power managing computers and printers causes network problems.
Reality Major network software suppliers say that if networks have been properly set up there should be no problem with turning off or power managing computers and printers in the network. If you are installing or upgrading a network, you can save energy by making effective power management capacity a mandatory condition of the contract. While servers need to be left on, they don’t need their screens on after hours to assist processing.

Myth Printing double-sided and/or using recycled paper causes photocopiers to jam and makes you use more paper.
Reality Many of us have had these experiences certainly, but they are quite avoidable in modern equipment. When buying new photocopiers and printers, ensure that manufacturers and suppliers are prepared to guarantee effective performance in these areas. Some copier manufacturers (e.g. Canon and Fuji Xerox) will specify the brands of recycled paper they approve.

Myth Refilled toner or ink cartridges leak everywhere and make an incredible mess.
Reality As with recycled paper, this problem is avoidable and manufacturers and suppliers should be prepared to guarantee effective performance.