Hmmmm,
My point regarding safety has nothing to to with microwaves:D it is a simple observation that any electrical device that is in a "powered up" state is a potential fire hazard. I do not like leaving things "on" for that reason. I have personally only seen a 5250 dumb terminal catch fire but I know of two people who have had PCs catch fire.
At one place I worked, I collaborated with a guy in health and safety and we estimated a saving of about $90,000 per annum by switching stuff off at night and the weekend.
I would estimate a personal saving of about $300 per annum by not leaving TVs, computers and the microwave on standby, and by using energy saving lamps. I would personally rather spend that money on beer................
I think that you really do have to be careful with laptops............. remember that they are designed for intermittent, rather than continual use, and that most lithium batteries are rather unstable. Dell recently recalled over 4 million and Apple over 1.5 million?
Also, most energy is still generated by burning fossil fuels..............those are limited resources and are pollutive.
I am only expressing the same views as the US DOE have been for the last 10 years or more ;)
