How much power does a computer consume on average? How much electricity does a computer consume per hour? Computer power in kW with monitor

Nowadays, modern technology is coming to the forefront in the world of information technology. Probably, few people have thought about how much a laptop costs per hour. Due to the increase in tariffs, even rich people are starting to save. So how much electricity does a laptop consume per hour of use? Let's look at this interesting question.

Choosing a laptop

If you are just planning to buy a laptop, then try to pay attention to energy-efficient models. The computer may cost you a little more, but it will save you money on electricity and will pay for itself over time. Remember that different models use electricity differently. To a large extent, it depends on the purpose of the laptop. To find out how much electricity a laptop consumes per hour, you need to consider its different types. Unfortunately, we will not be able to get an accurate result.

Electricity costs from running a laptop

A laptop with average performance. Let's say you bought this laptop for work. You work on it for about 8 hours a day in various office applications, on the Internet, or play simple games. In this case, the laptop will consume approximately 80 watts per hour. In 8 hours, the meter will accumulate about 0.640 kW. For a month this comes out to 19.2 kW. Not bad, right? But this is an average laptop that is simply used for work. Okay, let's move on to the next example.
Gaming laptop. How much electricity does a laptop with a good processor and gaming graphics card consume? A gaming laptop will consume about 190 watts. It is difficult to calculate how much electricity a person will spend using this technology, since different people spend different amounts of time at the computer. But let's say you play it 6 hours a day. In just one day you will spend 1.14 kW, which is about 34.2 kW per month. Quite a big figure.
Laptop in server mode. There are people who use their computer as a server on which they store photo and video files. Of course, such a laptop is not equipped with high technical characteristics, the only thing is a spacious hard drive (several terabytes). This computer will consume about 30 watts per hour. If it runs 24 hours a day, it will consume about 0.72 kW, which is 21.6 kW per month.

How to find out how much electricity your computer consumes

As we have already found out, it will depend on many details. Completed tasks and computer specifications do not make it possible to accurately determine how much electricity a laptop consumes per hour. If you are buying a new computer, you can determine its power and calculate the approximate costs (this information is indicated on it). But there may be another case, you buy an assembled laptop that does not have any power data. In this case, it will not be possible to find out the approximate costs, unless, of course, it is completely disassembled.

So, let's figure out how to find out how much electricity a laptop consumes? There are two effective ways that we will now consider.

What is the difference between different power consumption modes

Today, modern technologies have made it possible to reduce energy consumption. If you need to go away for a short time, it is not advisable to completely turn off the laptop, but in order to save money, you can switch it to another mode. To do this, you need to run a specific program that will turn off or slow down some components of the device. If you are about to start working on a laptop, the program will automatically start these processes. This created the opportunity to save on the included device.

The laptop does not work, but still consumes electricity, since the program is active and processes can resume at any time as soon as the user indicates this. If your computer is put into sleep mode, it only takes 30 seconds for it to wake up all components.

The second sleep mode is inactivity or hibernation. This mode is similar to the off state. In this case, energy costs will be minimal. Unfortunately, even if you turn off the device completely, it will waste a small amount of electricity. This is due to networking capabilities.

How much electricity does a laptop consume in sleep mode?

How much electricity does a laptop consume per month?

So how much electricity does a laptop consume? Let's say you have an average laptop that you use for gaming and work. On average, you work on it for 4 hours and play for 3 hours. During operation, electricity costs will be 0.4 kW, for games 0.45 kW and 17 hours of inactivity, which will also require 68-170 W depending on the mode. As a result, monthly electricity costs will be about 30 kW.

How to reduce your laptop's electricity consumption

We have found out how much electricity a laptop consumes per hour and per month; now we need to take care of saving energy. Of course, the main thing is when connected to the network, but there are also certain rules that can help save:

When buying a laptop, pay attention to energy-efficient models.
If you feel comfortable, you can reduce the screen brightness.
Don't spend too much time playing games and turn off your laptop.
Customize power modes based on your needs and schedule.

Conclusion

Now you can calculate how much electricity your laptop consumes per hour and create a work schedule for yourself that will help you save. Remember that turning off your laptop completely will help with this. If you follow all the tips, you will spend less on electricity.

The amount of electricity consumed by a computer depends on its technical characteristics. The system unit, monitor, and additional components have different power and workload.

How much electricity does a computer consume depending on its power?

200-250 W/hour – consumes an average power computer. At the same time, the system unit absorbs 150-200 W/hour, a modern 19-inch monitor – 50 W/hour. Such computers are used to work with text editors in offices, schools, and at home. Printers and copiers are additionally connected to them. For them, electricity consumption is 3 kW/hour.

The duration of work with an average-power computer is 8 hours, of which 20 minutes are used by additional devices. Computer electricity consumption per month is 93 kW.

450 W/hour – a more powerful computer with a built-in high-quality video card consumes electricity.

It is designed for gaming. Additional devices are not connected to them. The electricity consumption of such a computer for 2 hours of operation (at home) is 27.9 kW/month, for 8 hours (in computer centers) – 111.6 kW/month.

How much electricity does a computer consume depending on its operating mode?

85 W/hour – the computer’s electricity consumption is 250 W/hour in standby mode. Duration of work – up to 2 hours. Energy consumption per month is 5.27 kW.

105 W/hour – power consumption of a computer with a power of 450 W or higher in passive mode. In a month, the electric meter will generate 6.51 kW.

10 W/hour – bypasses sleep mode for additional printing devices. Duration of work – up to 6 hours. As a result, electricity consumption is 1.86 kW/month.

Using standby mode is beneficial when the quick need to resume working with the computer covers the cost of electricity.

How to reduce your computer's power consumption

disconnect an already switched off computer and its additional devices from the network;
when working with a computer, select the brightness and contrast of the monitor at 50%;
use energy saving devices;
distribute work with the computer so that the load on the operating system is stable and approximately equal;
use the standby mode of the computer and printing equipment when clearly necessary;
choose a computer according to the specifics of its operation.

When choosing a system unit, we usually look only at its performance and memory capacity. And we only think about how much light the computer generates a little later.

To its credit, manufacturers are trying their best to reduce computer power consumption, and they are doing quite well. If you compare the “dinosaurs” of ten years ago with modern “cars”, the difference will be impressive. Hence the first conclusion: the newer the computer, the less money it takes from your pocket.

How much electricity does a computer consume?

It is clear that everyone’s configuration is different, so we will look at the three most typical cases as an example.

Medium power computer with moderate use. Let's say he works on average 5 hours a day, mainly for Internet surfing, communication and simple games. Approximate consumption – 180 watts, plus the monitor, another 40 watts. It turns out that the entire system consumes 220 watts per hour. 220 Watt x 5 hours = 1.1 kW. Let’s add to this the consumption in standby mode (after all, you don’t unplug your computer, right?). 4 Watts x 19 hours = 0.076 kW. Total, 1,176 kW per day, 35 kW per month.

Gaming computer. A configuration with a powerful processor and a good video card draws approximately 400 W. Plus monitor, 40 W. In total, the average computer electricity consumption per hour is 440 watts. Let's say our gamer plays 6 hours a day. 440 W x 6 hours = 2.64 kW per day. Standby mode will add another 0.072 kW (4 W x 18). Total, 2.71 kW per day, 81 kW per month.

Server mode, 24x7. The PC is a media server on the home network; photo and video files are stored on it. The monitor, in most cases, is not used; the “filling” is a hard drive of several terabytes. Such a system consumes, on average, 40 W per hour. 40 W x 24 hours = 0.96 kW per day, 29 kW per month.

How to find out how much electricity your computer consumes

When buying a 100-watt light bulb, we know in advance how much it costs per hour. With a computer, as can be seen from the examples above, everything is somewhat more complicated. Consumption depends on your system configuration, schedule, and even what you do.

Even looking at a PC out of the box, it is not always possible to understand its power. What can we say about those assembled to order, where there are no identification marks on the body at all. You won’t disassemble it and look for disk data, video cards... How, in this case, can you find out how much electricity the computer consumes per hour? There are at least two ways.

Accurate. There are special devices for calculating electricity consumption. A very useful device can be bought both in our stores and in foreign ones. A simple wattmeter will cost $15, more sophisticated models – from $30. Plug it into a socket near the device you are interested in, and get its consumption data online.

Exemplary. We turn off all the electricity in the house and leave one 100-watt light bulb on. We count the number of revolutions of the counter, say, in 30 seconds. We turn off the light bulb, turn on the computer, launch Diablo (or any “heavy” application), count the revolutions again, and compare. If it is much more, you can repeat the experiment with a 200-watt light bulb.

Computer power consumption in sleep mode

Modern computers are distinguished not only by low consumption, but also by a variety of modes. Many people confuse them, so let's clarify.

Sleep mode: turns off hard drives, applications remain in RAM, and work resumes almost instantly. Consumes 7-10% of the total system power.

Hibernation Mode: completely shuts down the computer, data is saved in a separate file, work resumes more slowly than after sleep. Consumes 5-10 watts.

Complete shutdown or standby mode, as it is sometimes called, by analogy with household appliances. The system is completely logged out and all unsaved data is lost. The work begins with a new system boot. Consumes 4-5 watts.

How to reduce your computer's power consumption

As you can see, in any of the modes the PC continues, albeit slightly, to consume electricity. Therefore, if possible, try to disconnect it from the network. And a few more tips for saving money when using a computer.

Buy energy efficient models;
If it’s not important for you, give preference to a desktop PC;
Do not turn up the brightness on the monitor “all the way”;
Set aside a certain time for work or play, after which turn off the computer. This is much more economical than multiple “sessions” of several minutes.
Set up a power plan. Set optimal modes depending on your schedule and duration of work.

You've probably already heard about the new law that should come into force in the next few years. Its meaning is this: up to a certain threshold, the cost of electricity is slightly lower than we usually pay, and everything above this threshold is paid twice. Next year the experiment will begin in several Russian cities and if it ends successfully, it will be applied throughout Russia. The point of the idea is that people would finally start saving electricity and this is correct in its own way. However, the majority of our compatriots were hostile to this innovation.

Against the background of this news, home PC users began to think about how much electricity their computers consume. In addition, many ignorant people claim that PCs consume a huge amount of energy, and therefore have to pay incredible amounts for electricity. Is this really true?

First of all, you must understand that energy consumption directly depends on the power of the PC, as well as how loaded it is at the moment. This is explained quite simply. Let's look at an example based on a power supply - this is generally one of its most important components. can be very different and the higher it is, the better, because then you can connect various components to it, even of very high power. This allows you not only to play the latest games, but also to run resource-intensive programs, for example, for designers or designers. However, it is important to understand that in case of idle time or simply surfing pages on the World Wide Web, such a PC will consume several times less energy than when it is used to its fullest. In other words, the fewer processes are loaded, the less you pay for electricity.

Now let's try to calculate the costs. Let's say you use a 500 W power supply, although in the modern world this is not so much, it is quite enough even for a gamer. Let’s say that during the game 300 W are used + about another 60 W are “added” by the monitor. Add these two numbers and we get 360 watts per hour. Thus, it turns out that one hour of play costs on average a little more than one ruble per day.

However, there is one big BUT in this whole story - you cannot judge costs solely based on the power of the power supply. Here you also need to add data on the energy consumption of other components of the system unit, including the processor, video card, hard drives, and so on. Only after this can you multiply the figures you received by the hours of work and then you will receive paid kilowatts.

According to various studies, the average office computer usually consumes no more than 100 W, a home computer - about 200 W, and a powerful gaming computer can consume an average of 300 to 600 W. And remember - the less you load your PC, the less you pay for electricity.

When choosing components for a personal computer (PC), people usually pay attention to performance and memory capacity, sometimes forgetting about how much “light” the device consumes.

It is worth noting that manufacturers are trying by all means to reduce consumption to a minimum. Compared to the first PCs, modern ones, even the most powerful ones, “eat” much less energy.

From this we can conclude: the newer the computer, the lower the costs for it in the future.

How much electricity does a computer consume?

Office

With moderate use, an average duration of active work of 5 hours a day, used for the Internet, instant messengers and weak games, the computer consumes approximately 180 watts per hour, and the monitor - 40 (indicated in the specifications).

This means that the total power consumption of the entire system is 220 watts per hour, and in 5 hours, respectively, 1.1 kilowatts. To this number you need to add idle consumption: approximately 4 watts per hour x 19 hours = 0.076 kilowatts. We will get about 1,176 kW per day and 35 kW per month.

Server

If the computer serves as a home data storage, with the main contents of the hard drive in the form of photographs and videos, then the average consumption figures will be 40 watts per hour. The total is: 40 W x 24 hours = 0.96 kW for a full day and 29 kW per month.

Game

In cases where the PC is used for games or graphics work, such operations always require increased power consumption. Depending on the components, it can reach values of 300-340 W/h or 0.3 kW/h. This also includes the operation of the monitor (40 watts).

Under conditions where a gamer plays for 6 hours daily, the PC consumes 380 W X 6 = 2280 W = 2.28 kW, idle mode: 18 hours X 4 W = 0.076 kW. Result: 2.71 kW per day and 81 per month.

How to calculate consumption

For example, let's take an average PC whose power consumption is 120 W during active operation. Its use time is 8 hours, which means energy consumption is 120 * 8 = 960 watts per day and 28800 watts per month.

The average rate for 1 kilowatt is 4 rubles, which means the monthly fee will be approximately 120 rubles.

Calculations were made with the condition that the computer is not used for games and just works for 8 hours. To these should be added the monthly consumption of the monitor. The performance of a gaming PC will be 2 or 3 times higher.

To accurately determine costs, you should proceed from your computer operating mode, its components, the load on them and the duration of operation.

Full shutdown mode saves a lot of energy (4 watts per hour), unlike sleep mode.

How to find out your electricity consumption

When purchasing, for example, an incandescent lamp, the manufacturer immediately indicates its energy consumption. With a computer everything is a little more complicated.

Even on a PC purchased in a store, it is not always possible to determine its power, not to mention “custom-made” assemblies, on the cases of which there is no information at all. In such cases, there are two measurement methods:

Accurate. On the Internet, on radio markets or in electronics stores, you can purchase a simple wattmeter, which will cost from 15 to 30 dollars. It should be plugged into a socket in front of the desired device, and then simply monitor changes in indicators.
Exemplary. Turn off all electrical appliances in the house, leaving only one 100-watt lamp running. Count the number of revolutions of the counter for 30 seconds, then turn off the lamp, turn on the PC, run any heavy application on it and again count the revolutions of the counter and compare them with the previous result. If there are too many revolutions, repeat with a lamp of higher power.

Laptop power consumption

To calculate the power consumption of a laptop, the same methods are used as for a PC. But the task is complicated by the fact that it is not always possible to accurately identify the components. Therefore, the best way is to check the meter or use a Wattmeter, as we indicated earlier.

Idle consumption

Operating systems provide several power saving modes when idle:

OuterVision Service

You can find out your energy consumption using third-party services, such as OuterVision:

The result “” indicates energy consumption per hour.

How to reduce energy consumption

turn off PC at a time when it is not in use;
turn off the monitor, in case it is impossible to turn off the PC;
change old hard ones drives on modern SSDs;
update components personal computer, because old ones consume more;
in the BIOS menu find the function “ ACPI Suspended Type”, convert it to the S3 value, in which the processor will not consume energy in sleep mode;
configure savings settings in the “ Power supply” on the Control Panel;
use less powerful system, if the functions of this PC are not used to their fullest.