Computers, laptops, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, cell phones, regular phones — there are seemingly endless ways to communicate and stay connected to one another in this technological world. If someone can’t be reached in an instant message, there’s always a phone call, a text message, an e-mail or, my personal favorite, the Facebook wall post as ways to reach the person you’re trying to find.

A computer is one of those devices that doesn’t use up as much electricity as its household counterparts if used sparingly, but when left on for hours at a time surpasses them on energy usage.

According to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web site, a subset of the U.S. Department of Energy, a laptop uses about 50 watts of energy while a computer with monitor (both on) would use about 270. Compare that to a washer (350-500 watts) and dryer (1,800 to 5,000 watts), and the energy that computers use seems like a drop in the bucket. But a washer and dryer aren’t being used every day, and on the day they are used, they are utilized for probably a few hours at most.

According to Ron Chapman, director of energy management here at OU, there are about 4,300 computers in the dorms (assuming each dorm room has one computer), and approximately 8,000 off-campus. Alden Library’s Web site also boasts that it has “well over 200” computers throughout its building.

Combine a massive amount of computers with the necessity to stay connected, and there is a huge amount of energy being used. Chapman estimates OU’s electric bill would probably be about $5.983 million — and you thought your electric bill was bad! While this obviously isn’t just coming from computers, any superfluous energy use increases that number.

Now, you might be saying that you live off-campus, so why bother with OU’s electric bill? If you do live off-campus, then you know that your wallet sees extra energy use and quivers in fear because that’s more money spent on electricity and less on booze and burritos (I’m aiming to have burritos in the paper every day from now on).

EERE provides a formula you can use to see how much money you’re spending on electricity for certain products, which would allow you to see how much money you could save by using them less or turning them off when not in use.

First, locate the amount of electricity your computer uses. On laptops, it is usually at the bottom. If the number is not in watts, you can convert it by multiplying the number of volts by the number of amps listed.

Now multiply it by the number of hours it is on during the day — this includes when the screensaver is on. According to Energy Star, screensavers don’t save energy but often use more energy if they have bright graphics. Now multiply that by the number of days you use your computer each year. Now divide what you have by 1,000.

Multiply that by .085 (8.5 cents), and that’s how much it costs to run your computer each year. And that’s just one of the many appliances using electricity. This equation can be used for all appliances and also for comparing them, for example seeing how much less energy is used by fans than air conditioners.

But individuals aren’t the only ones using electricity — businesses have a habit of keeping computers on all the time as well. NPR reported that computer monitors’ being turned off when not in use would save businesses $1 billion per year, enough to power all the houses in Chicago for that same time period.

Turning off the computer isn’t always the top priority when people have a million other things to do, but changing the sleep settings on your computer is an easy way to have your computer automatically go to sleep after not in use for 20 minutes or so. Visit www.facilities.ohiou.edu/greenpc to see how to change the settings for your computer, or change the sleep option the same way you would your screen saver or desktop.

We all want to stay connected, but we aren’t in the times of the pony express when there was only one way to stay in touch with the outside world. Our instant messaging service doesn’t need to be on 24/7, even when we leave for the entire weekend, because if someone can’t find us online at that moment, we still have cell phones and Facebook to relay information to one another, and we usually use them.

The key is using energy in moderation and cutting back when it’s not necessary to use it. In this region, electricity is generated by burning coal, and Erik Reece can tell you what coal-mining has done to Appalachia at 8 tonight in Walter 145 as part of Earth Week. Yes, that’s a plug for Earth Week — check out all the interesting activities and speakers at www.facilities.ohiou.edu/conservation/earthweek.htm.

Cathy Wilson is a junior journalism major and a copy editor for The Post.  Send her an e-mail at cw224805@ohiou.edu.