How to enable energy saver mode on a Ricoh CL4000DN printer

Most modern copiers and printers have some sort of sleep mode or low-power mode that they will switch to after sitting idle for a specified period of time.  On the Ricoh Aficio CL4000DN printer, this low-power mode is called energy saver mode.  When the printer is in energy saver mode, it draws less power to help save on electricity costs (as well as to prolong the life of the printer) but it can quickly resume normal operation when needed, without a long warm-up time.

To enable energy saver mode on a Ricoh CL4000 printer:

• Press the Menu button on the printer's control panel to bring up the main menu.
• Using the arrow buttons, scroll down to System and press the #Enter button to select it.
• Scroll down to Energy Saver, then press #Enter.
• The first option will be E. Saver On/Off; press #Enter to select it.
• "*Off" will appear; scroll down to On and press #Enter.

To set the energy saver timer:

• After a second or two, the screen will return to the Energy Saver menu.  Scroll down to E. Saver Timer and press #Enter to select it.
• Using the arrow buttons, select the amount of time you want the printer to wait before entering energy saver mode.
• The available options are 5, 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes.
• When the setting you want is highlighted, press #Enter to select it.

Press the Escape button three times to exit out of the menu and return to the ready screen. Energy saver mode is now enabled, and will kick in after the specified amount of time. If the printer is in energy saver mode when you send a print job to it, it will "wake up" to print your job.

(Originally published on Helium.com, 2011)