| We should all do our part in conserving electricity | | | | this seemingly insignificant amount of power would |
| and practicing energy efficiency in our everyday | | | | add up to if you leave your printers on idle most |
| lives. We can do this through simple things that | | | | of the day, 7 days a week for a whole year. |
| won't disrupt our lives, such as turning off | | | | How to Conserve Energy with Your Printers |
| appliances when no one is using them, installing | | | | You can still, however, minimize your use of |
| compact fluorescent light bulbs in your home and | | | | power and practice energy efficiency while using |
| office and choosing appliances and equipment that | | | | your laser or inkjet printers by following these |
| have good energy efficiency ratings. | | | | simple tips. |
| You can also practice energy efficiency by aiming | | | | 1. Choose a printer with an Energy Star stamp. |
| to decrease the power consumption of your | | | | Energy Star is a program created by the US |
| inkjet printers or laser printers. This is one small | | | | Environmental Protection Agency and the US |
| step that you can easily take to lower your | | | | Department of Energy. They give approval or |
| electricity bills, save energy and help Mother Earth. | | | | special seals for appliances and equipment that |
| Let's take a deeper look at the energy | | | | have been proven to be energy efficient. Inkjet |
| consumption of these printers and several tips on | | | | and laser printers with this seal either consume a |
| how to decrease their electricity usage. | | | | low energy level per week or automatically go |
| The Power Consumption of Laser and Inkjet | | | | into sleep or low power mode during idle mode, |
| Printers | | | | among other criteria. |
| The advent of the computer age has caused us | | | | 2. Use the power saving mode of your printers. |
| to increase our energy consumption (and our | | | | According to Energy Star, you should set your |
| carbon footprint) exponentially through the years. | | | | printer's low power mode depending on the print |
| While monitors and CPUs are still at the top of | | | | speeds of your inkjet or laser printer. Those with |
| the energy charts when it comes to consumption, | | | | speeds of 0 to 10 ipm, should be set to turn off |
| inkjet and laser printers also contribute to | | | | automatically after 30 minutes, while this time |
| operating and energy costs. | | | | should be set to 60 minutes for printers with 11 |
| Laser printers can consume as much as 100 | | | | to 20ipm. Laser and inkjet printers with speeds of |
| watts (or more) when in use, while inkjet printers | | | | 55ipm and above should be set to turn off after |
| use much less energy, at about 12 watts when | | | | 90 minutes. |
| printing. This fact has sparked some debate over | | | | 3. Make sure to turn off your printer when no |
| which printer is more eco-friendly. Since the laser | | | | one is using it. It's advisable to appoint someone in |
| printer can give your more pages per printer ink | | | | your office to turn off your printer at the end of |
| cartridge, it sounds like the greener option over | | | | the day. At home, make sure that you switch off |
| an inkjet, which can only give you a few hundred | | | | your printer after using it. |
| pages. | | | | 4. Use the Duplex feature of your printer. This is |
| But laser printers consume much more energy | | | | one easy way to practice energy efficiency in the |
| than inkjet printers, even when idle. Tests done | | | | office or at home. Duplex copying uses up less |
| by the website report that a Lexmark E230 laser | | | | energy than single-sided copying; so it's strongly |
| printer ate up about 5.9 watts when idle, but this | | | | suggested that you set your printer to duplex |
| number quickly rose to 700 watts per printed | | | | mode, so that you save on energy and paper as |
| page. The test revealed that a Canon S800 inkjet | | | | well. |
| printer, on the other hand, only consumed | | | | Reduce waste and energy consumption by |
| between 13 to 19 watts when printing. When idle, | | | | making sure that all your appliances and |
| inkjet printers used only 5 watts of power. But | | | | equipment at the home and in your office have |
| just because they use up less energy when idle | | | | an Energy Star seal. You can also practice energy |
| doesn't mean that it's okay to leave your printers | | | | efficiency by following the four tips above. |
| on standby mode all the time. Imagine how much | | | | |