# Do You Power Off Your Cell Phone At Night? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061 "2013-08-24T15:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/21 "2013-08-24T18:48:11Z")
My phone is my back-up alarm clock in case the power goes out over night, so no. I also tend to get texts from students that I need to handle at all hours. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/22 "2013-08-24T19:41:55Z")
Currently, I have three phones powered on…two on chargers. A fourth is turned off. But this isn’t normal for me. Normally, I just have two phones, and they both stay on and sit on chargers all night. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/23 "2013-08-24T20:11:39Z")
We don’t have a land line, so our cells are always on at home. The only time I turn mine off is when I’m in court. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/24 "2013-08-24T20:13:51Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > People’s concerns about always being reachable in case of an emergency strike me as odd for the most part; we went many decades with phones attached to walls and people coped just fine. For a long time answering machines weren’t even common for home use! But those phones on the wall in the kitchen would ring nice and loud in the middle of the night and wake everyone up, so it wasn’t an issue. I can’t imagine NOT being available for an emergency call. I’ve gotten enough “there’s been an accident and your child is in the hospital” calls when they were teens and when they were adults living elsewhere that I could not deal with the guilt of knowing I had slept soundly when my child needed me in the middle of the night. Or a friend, though that hasn’t happened since the neighbor called us in the middle of the night to help her escape from her abusive husband. My phone is also my alarm, so it is on 24/7. My SO turns his off at night, which amuses me no end because HE is the one most likely to text me at the buttcrack of dawn as he goes to the airport for an early flight. He expects my phone to be on for him, but doesn’t give me the same consideration! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/25 "2013-08-24T20:31:18Z")
Powered on in my office where it charges. I doubt I’d hear it even if it did ring. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/26 "2013-08-24T20:34:48Z")
1, my phone is my alarm clock. 2, The shutdown/startup process is mildly annoying, so why do it if I don’t have to? I turn it on sleep mode at night so that texts and phone calls don’t wake me up. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/27 "2013-08-24T21:06:22Z")
On all night. It’s my alarm clock. I put it on vibrate and shove it under the pillow. I turn it off whenever I don’t feel like answering it. I don’t have a car, so I’m nobody’s immediate emergency contact. Pretty much anything else can wait until my deadline has passed and I turn the phone back on again. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/28 "2013-08-24T21:52:11Z")
I have no idea how to turn my phone off. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/29 "2013-08-24T22:35:56Z")
Mine’s always on, but on silent. It’s an alarm clock for me at night. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/30 "2013-08-24T23:00:41Z")
On all the time, charging overnight. But I live in an area with zero reception, so no interrupting calls either! If I had phone reception, I would probably still charge it overnight and use it as an alarm clock, but I would probably turn it to airplane or silent mode to avoid late-night interruptions ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/31 "2013-08-24T23:11:06Z")
I leave it on, and plugged in. People rarely call me late at night anyway. If I’m tired enough to be bothered by it, then I’ll just sleep through it, or grab it, see who is calling, and go back to sleep. I don’t like to turn off the ringer, let alone turn it off completely because I tend to forget to turn it back on. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/32 "2013-08-24T23:16:45Z")
I just got my first cell phone today (yeah, I know :rolleyes:) but answered that I’d leave it powered on at night. I have an elderly mother and an even elderlier mother-in-law, and they both live alone. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/33 "2013-08-24T23:49:24Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > I just got my first cell phone today (yeah, I know :rolleyes:) I still don’t have one, so don’t feel too bad… ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/34 "2013-08-25T00:23:21Z")
Mine is always on. For one thing, it’s annoying to wait for it to power up (it takes a couple minutes), and for another, it’s my alarm clock. Although I don’t have to wake in the mornings for any real reason since I work nights. No one ever calls me at night, and I don’t get alerts for texts (which is mostly how my friends and BF and I stay in touch). ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/35 "2013-08-25T00:37:03Z")
I use mine as an alarm clock so its always switched on at night. We have a clock radio that my husband uses, but except on Mondays we get up at different times. I turn it off sometimes during the day. If I’m at the movies, a funeral or wedding or sometimes if I just don’t feel like talking to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/36 "2013-08-25T00:54:55Z")
Mine is on 24/7. At night it’s plugged in and on silent next to my bed. If I wake up during the night, I glance at the screen. I live alone and want a phone handy in case I need it. If you’re alone, having the phone on your person is a good idea… as good as the “fallen and can’t get up” button. When my late H used to go out on the riding mower, I’d tell him to make sure he had his phone. Our place was so isolated that you could fall off the mower and be eaten by coyotes before anyone found you. Also, if I’m doing something up on a ladder, I either have the phone on me, or (no kidding) I put it on the floor next to the ladder. Maybe I’m being overly cautious, but the one time I need help, the phone will be there. Like it wasn’t ONE TIME in 2007, when I left my phone in the car to run into an office to drop off something. I fell off my expensive, fancy-schmancy Bjorn platform shoes and broke my ankle. There was my phone in my car about 20 feet away. Couldn’t get to it. I lay there on the asphalt among the acorns for about 20 minutes until two guys found me and went and got my phone so I could call my then-bf. I’d like an explanation of the reasoning behind this policy if \*\*blondebear \*\*would be so kind: > [@blondebear](#): > > My phone is off by default. I only turn it on when I’m making or expecting a call. Some of my friends do this, and it makes me nuts on those occasions when we’re supposed to meet somewhere and I’m trying to call to say I’m going to be late or that there’s an accident on the highway or something. [BTW, I’m compulsively prompt and never late unless there’s been some kind of unexpected event.] There’s no $$ charge for keeping the phone ON, and if someone calls WHOM YOU’RE NOT EXPECTING, you don’t have to answer unless you want to. It makes NO SENSE to me to own a cell phone and not have it on a good amount of the time. Don’t have to have the ringer on, don’t have to answer, but you can glance at the screen every now and then to see if you missed any calls that you need to follow up on. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/37 "2013-08-25T00:55:16Z")
I generally charge mine overnight in the kitchen, and have it set to silent mode. I rarely turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/38 "2013-08-25T01:20:03Z")
On and charging, like the tiny little robotic vampire it is. ---
**Author:** ![LMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@LMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LMarie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/39 "2013-08-25T02:47:49Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > People’s concerns about always being reachable in case of an emergency strike me as odd for the most part; we went many decades with phones attached to walls and people coped just fine. For a long time answering machines weren’t even common for home use! Put me on the odd list, then. Mine is also on 24/7. My favorite aunt was severely injured in an apartment fire during the middle of the night once. I was thankful to be awakened by the call and made it to the hospital lickety-split in order to be at her side when she needed family support the most. I also lived an hour away from the hospital (in clear traffic). Had I not gotten the call till the next morning, that drive would have taken me an additional 2-2.5 hours in rush hour traffic just to get to her. Though my son is an adult and living on his own, I also leave my line open just in case he ever needs us (my husband turns his phone off at night and we don’t have a landline). In the decades that you speak of, most had land lines that awakened them for emergencies. They didn’t turn phones off or unplug them overnight. ---
**Author:** ![slomomofo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@slomomofo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slomomofo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061/40 "2013-08-25T02:57:39Z")
On with sound off because for one- nobody ever calls anyway. And two- it goes into deep sleep just fine and barely drains the battery at all when on standby, so why bother going through all the hoops of shutting it off and turning it back on again in the morning? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-power-off-your-cell-phone-at-night/667061.md?page=3)