Nowadays, modern technology is coming to the forefront in the world of information technology. Probably, few people have thought about how much electricity a laptop consumes 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 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 are made on 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 how much electricity your computer consumes
As we have already found out, electricity consumption 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.
- Accurate. Now you can purchase a device that can determine your electricity consumption. You can buy such a new device in any store or on the Internet. The price of a wattmeter starts from $15 for the simplest models. If you want to take a more advanced model, you will have to shell out at least $30. How does he work? The wattmeter must be plugged into an outlet near the laptop. In a few seconds, he will give you all the information you need.
- Exemplary. If you do not want to spend money on various devices to determine energy consumption, then you can try an alternative method, but it is not accurate. First you need to turn off all electrical appliances and leave one 100-watt light bulb. Let's move on to the counter, you need to count how many revolutions it will make in 30 seconds. So, you have this number memorized. Turn off the light bulb and turn on the computer. Count how many revolutions the counter makes when the laptop is connected to the network. If there are many more of them, then you need to repeat the experiment, but with another light bulb, more powerful (200 Watt).
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.
In standby mode, 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 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?
- Sleeping mode. In sleep mode, the laptop consumes little power, but it is still 2 times more than when the device is turned off. The computer requires power to maintain system memory and enable all tasks when entering normal operating mode. How much electricity does a laptop consume in sleep mode? Typically, average computers consume about 10 watts per hour. It is worth noting that laptops consume less electricity compared to desktop computers. According to statistics, a portable device is 3 times more economical than a stationary one.
- Hibernation mode. As we have already found out, this is the second sleep mode. It is similar to completely shutting down the computer, but in this case the data is saved in a file. To continue working with the laptop you will have to wait, since turning on is slower than in normal sleep mode. A computer in this mode consumes about 5-10 watts per hour.
- Complete shutdown. In this mode, no data is saved, and you must turn on the computer again to continue working. Even with this system shutdown, the laptop will consume electricity. In an hour you can count about 4 watts.
Additional electricity costs
As noted at the beginning of the article, even a turned off laptop, if you do not disconnect its cord from the network, continues to consume electricity. Moreover, many people versed in computer technology know that it is better not to turn off the computer at all - just put it in sleep mode. This measure, in particular, protects the hard drive and extends its service life.
Thus, to find out the amount of consumption when turning off the machine, it is enough to find out how long you have not used it. For example, if we take as a basis that it works for 8 hours, then it remains without power for 16. Here we make the calculation as follows:
- 5 × 16 = 80;
- 80 × 30 = 2 400.
This means that an additional 2.4 kilowatts will be burned, that is, 9.6 rubles will be added to the bill.
When we talk about sleep mode, in which the energy consumption is about 9 watts, it will come out: (9 × 16) × 30 = 4,320 or 4.32 kW. Here in monetary terms it will be 17.28.
How much electricity does a laptop consume per month?
Of course, we will not be able to calculate exactly how much electricity we will spend per month, but we will try to get an average value that will allow us to estimate the cost of electricity from the computer.
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 much do gaming and powerful laptops consume?
As stated earlier, the power of the device, which ensures correct operation, does not depend on the power supply of the device, but on the work carried out on it. Naturally, when purchasing, the question arises of how much electricity the computer will need when running complex programs or when playing games. How much does this value increase and can it be calculated? Of course you can. To do this, it is necessary to carry out all the same calculations, but taking into account the additional costs of complex functionality. To calculate you will need:
- Exact number of hours worked. It is usually higher because, being involved in the game process, the user spends more time than when working with standard applications.
- Input and output power values increased by a small factor as power increases during gameplay.
- Other characteristics of the laptop, including processor frequency, screen characteristics, as well as the values of other components. All of them are in the manufacturer’s booklet or on the Internet.
Carry out the appropriate calculations, taking into account the above values, and get the computer's power consumption value. To calculate the cost, the resulting figure can be converted into rubles. To do this, you just need to multiply the number of kW and the price of one kW in accordance with the region of residence.
If the amount received turns out to be significantly higher than expected, you should not immediately panic that there is something wrong with the device or start saving. Firstly, the higher the power consumption of the laptop, the higher the electricity bill will be. Secondly, there are several quick ways to check the status of the device:
- Use the computer's power saving mode to reduce the amount of electricity consumed while working. You can enable it in the system settings. After turning on the economy mode, the screen brightness will decrease, as well as the process frequency. No need to worry: these indicators will not fall below the permissible values, and the economy mode will not interfere with normal operation. For those who prefer to use a keyboard rather than a mouse, there is a hotkey combination Fn+12, which automatically activates the economy mode.
- You can change the laptop operating mode. In the settings you need to find the “power supply” section, where several schemes of the device’s operation are presented. Choose the one that suits you, taking into account the characteristics of your computer. Don't forget about the types of basic work you do on the device.
- If you carry out special work on your computer, during which it is impossible to completely turn off the device, do not worry that the amount for electricity at the end of the month will be unaffordable. To reduce costs, it is necessary to enable “sleep mode” for those periods when the device is turned on but not in use.
- If you unplug your laptop for a long time, you can remove the battery from the device. This will help to avoid additional costs, since even when turned off, when connected to an outlet, electricity is consumed.
Laptop Electronics
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 to disconnect the laptop from the network when turning it off, but there are also certain rules that can help save money:
- 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.
How to calculate the consumption of the laptop itself
For those who are interested in the answer to the question “How many watts does my laptop consume?”, it would be useful to remind you that the above calculations show the electricity consumption directly by the power supply. However, the machine itself uses slightly less power.
You will find all the necessary technical specifications on the bottom cover of the laptop. In our case, we will be talking about 19 volts at a current of up to 2.1 A.
We carry out the calculations as follows:
- 19 × 2.1 = 39.9 watts;
- 39.9 × 8 (work hours) = 319.2;
- 319,2 × 30 = 9 576.
At the same time, do not forget that in reality the machine needs no more than 80 percent, which means: 9,576 × 0.8 = 7,660, which in total gives 7.66 kilowatts or 30.64 rubles.
