Is it ok to set an iMac to never sleep?

Jump to First Reply
soundhoundsoundhound
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have my iMac out back in a converted garage and it serves up the music and movies to the house. The modem, airport etc is in the main house, and the iMac falls off the network a lot. I want to run an ethernet cable to the back house, but until I can do that, I discovered that if I set it to never sleep (let the screen sleep, just set the cpu to never sleep), it doesn't fall off the network!



Problem solved, right? Unless I'm doing something that will eventually do damage to the cpu, or something else perhaps? And does it use a lot more energy this way, or is it minimal? Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,585moderator
    It won't damage the CPU running it that way but it does use more electricity:



    http://everythingapple.blogspot.com/...ilization.html



    55W vs under 4W. Apple notes similar usage:



    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3559



    It's the equivalent of leaving a light-bulb on 24/7.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 2
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,185member
    Wont hurt anything... other than "normal" wear and tear from being on. (Some would say that keeping the elctronics at a constant temp is better for them than repeated cooling/heating cycles.)



    If you care about the energy usage, the ethernet idea is better... you can then set the Mac to "wake on etherrnet access".
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
Sign In or Register to comment.