We get this question quite a bit, especially now that energy conservation is a big issue. This topic boils down to this question: is turning off my computer every day bad for it? The answer is no.

Several years ago, the answer to this question might have been yes. The issue comes down to your computer's hard drive, motherboard and CPU. When your computer is on, it generates a lot of heat. Turning it off then cools down the parts. This heating up and cooling down impacts your PC's parts, but now with the technology and design much bette, this is no longer a factor.

You also need to think about the economic impact of having your PC turned on 24 hours a day. This excerpt is from How stuff works:

"A typical PC consumes something like 300 watts. Let's assume that you use your PC for four hours every day, so the other 20 hours it is on would be wasted energy. If electricity costs 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in your area, then that 20 hours represents 60 cents a day. Sixty cents a day adds up to $219 per year."

This calculation also doesn't include printers, fax machines or monitors. Just think of the cost savings if everyone in your office turned off their computers at night before they left.

So to keep it green, it is best to turn your PC off when you are not using it. The only thing you are hurting by keeping it on is the environment, by wasting unused energy and your wallet.