Instead of turning your computer screen into a laser light show, save your computer screen-and your money, too-by setting your monitor to enter sleep mode after ten minutes of ... read full tip

Instead of turning your computer screen into a laser light show, save your computer screen-and your money, too-by setting your monitor to enter sleep mode after ten minutes of inactivity. In most cases, sleep mode saves just as much energy as turning off the monitor completely. You can use your computer's power management tool to adjust sleep mode.

Contrary to popular belief, screensavers are not energy savers. In fact, computers use more energy to run screensavers than they do sitting idle with the monitor turned on.

Just by using sleep mode instead of a screensaver, you could save $10 to $30 per year. If you're prone to leaving your computer on to let your screensaver run all night, your annual energy cost savings could total more than $100.
　
According to Energy Star's Million Monitor Drive campaign, which aims to activate power management features on monitors nationwide, if every U.S. business utilized the sleep functions on their monitors, an estimated 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours-totaling more than $600 million-could be saved per year. This is enough to buy more than 800,000 Energy Star computers for schools in need across the country.

Energy Star