Power supply: Leave it on?

While in the midst of replacing my very first power supply since owning boxes dating back to 286's I'm asking the question: Should I leave the unit on all the time except when out of town or during that middle of the night thunderstorm?
I seem to recall the prevailing wisdom at one time was to leave it on as rebooting only wears on a power supply. Was this nonsense?

I usually run a backup in the middle of each night via Mozy but I could reschedule it for the evening when the unit is in use.

Thoughts welcomed.

Hi .

Dealer's choice...but I see no value in leaving a computer on when I am away for protracted periods of time.

If I know that I will be gone overnight, I turn my two systems off. If I know that I will be absent for more than 3 days, I turn off the surge protectors that my computers, TV, etc. are plugged into.

As for the computer power supply itself...I leave its switch always on, once I install same or set up a new system. It has an internal circuit breaker which should protect the system (turns the system off) whenever I have a power failure/surge.

Louis

Edited by hamluis, 31 December 2008 - 03:04 PM.

Its your wallet. If you leave your computer system on or plugged into a live wall socket all the time it continuously draws power costing you money. I keep all of my peripherals and systems plugged into a Power Authority Surge system and turn it all off at night and when I am at work. This is also true for cell phone chargers, Tv's, VCRS, ETC. Anything with a brick or transformer draws power even when its not in use. As for MTBF (mean time between failures) The difference is not that noticeable whether you leave it on or not.