Stand by on vista pc?

it does not use that much electricity as when the pc on full power. it basically turns everything off and suspends the hard drive... the power is only to the RAM in your pc (most pcs) so that no memory is lost when you start up. so.1. your carbon footprint is ok 2. if you really want to save your bill, you should put the pc to low power or hibernate (if your likely to use the pc again in the next hour or so), as shutting down and starting up is taking more time and there for using up more power.