26 April 2026 - ENERGY EFFICIENCY Energy Management at the URZ: Is it Worth Switching Off Printers?
How much energy can be saved if printers are completely turned off on weekends instead of running continuously in standby mode? Three trainees at the URZ explored this question as part of the annual IHK Energy Scouts Project.
Starting Point: 20 Printers That Never Really Sleep
At the URZ, about 20 printers are permanently available to staff and remain turned on even when they are hardly used at night or on weekends. Lukas Dambuk, Noemi Rodrigues, and Dominik Zils (all trainees in IT systems integration) asked themselves as part of the IHK Energy Scouts Project whether energy could be saved here.
For their investigation, the trainees selected four representative devices: two central floor printers and two office printers. A daily shutdown overnight was ruled out from the start, since the central floor printers install necessary updates during this time. The investigation therefore focused on the weekend: using a power meter, they recorded the power consumption over 58 hours each – a period covering an entire weekend from Friday 8 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m.
Result: Standby Consumes 15 Times More
The numbers speak for themselves: in standby mode over the weekend, a printer consumes 0.464 kWh. The total energy required for shutting down and starting up, by contrast, amounts to only 0.031 kWh – including the brief start-up peak of almost 975 watts and the subsequent warm-up phase. Standby operation therefore causes around 15 times the energy consumption. Lukas Dambuk sums it up: “The result was clear: standby operation over the weekend consumes a multiple of what turning the printers on and off would cost.”
Extrapolation to the Entire University
For the approximately 800 printers at Heidelberg University, this adds up to considerable savings potential. While an automated shutdown solution initially involves a one-time development effort for a corresponding script, the ongoing electricity costs for turning the printers on and off are negligible. According to a rough calculation by the trainees, the investment would pay for itself after a manageable period and would then lead to noticeable annual savings. Dominik Zils also looks beyond the URZ: “In theory, the concept could be extended to all printers across the entire university – that would of course be a big step, but it would also offer great savings potential.”
Recommendations from the Energy Scouts
In addition to the long-term automation solution, the three also recommend short-term measures. Noemi Rodrigues emphasizes: “Even without automation, a lot can be achieved – when employees turn off their printer before going on vacation, that’s a real contribution.” They also suggest examining whether, given the overall low print volume, the total number of devices could be reduced.
The project was carried out as part of the IHK Energy Scouts program and was presented by the trainees at the IHK Mannheim in July 2026. For more information on Energy Scouts projects at the URZ click the linked site.