How many watts does a laptop consume per hour and per month: how to find out the power

Laptop power consumption

The concept of laptop power consists of several indicators, so before making calculations, it is worth identifying them. Power depends on:

Power consumption on the power supply. The power supply distributes energy to operate the laptop and programs.
Computer software, including operating system, drivers, processor, and other technical characteristics of the device.
Amount of work on a laptop and type of work. When using text editors and, for example, computer games, the amount of energy consumed will be different.

Thus, for different computers with different tasks, energy consumption will be calculated differently. To get accurate indicators, you need to make an accurate calculation, taking into account all factors. However, you can limit yourself to the average value, which is usually indicated in the technical characteristics of the device. If you have extra time and interest, you can do the calculations yourself, because this does not require special knowledge. Even those who are far from the world of computer technology will be able to cope with the task.

The main thing when calculating power is the computer's power supply. It is he who influences the final value, despite other important characteristics.

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.

How to find out how much a specific laptop consumes

To obtain accurate power consumption values, you need to analyze the functionality of the power supply. It is a black rectangle with two wires for current input and output. There is always a sticker on the case that displays all the basic information about the current consumption, incoming and outgoing power values.

To make the calculation:

Take the power supply and look for a label on it with the necessary information.
Pay special attention to the inscription “INPUT” - this indicates the main characteristics of receiving current from a specific source/socket to the unit. Typically the average power is 110-240 volts. The strength of the incoming current in Amperes is also indicated here.
At the opposite end, find the inscription “OUTPUT”, where the output characteristics are indicated.
The listed characteristics will help you understand how much power and electricity is consumed.
Write down the characteristics on a separate sheet and, based on the duration of operation, calculate the power consumption.

These parameters provide average, complete information about the laptop's energy consumption. However, do not forget that not all power is consumed constantly. The cost ratio averages 0.8, which is about 20%. Thus, about 20% of the energy does not reach the laptop, therefore, corrections are required for errors in energy consumption.

If the sticker comes off or the information on it is erased, do not despair. You can find all the necessary information on the Internet on the manufacturer’s special websites. To do this, you will need the name and brand of the laptop, which you need to enter on the official website. The information may also be in the instruction booklet, which is usually included with any laptop.

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 many kW does a laptop consume per hour?

After obtaining basic information about the device, you can begin more accurate calculations. To avoid confusion, take the kW/hour indicator as a basis. To calculate you need:

Take the device input current indicated on the power supply. For example, let's define it as 20 V and 3.25 A.
Multiply the indicators from point one, and multiply the resulting figure by an error factor of 0.8.
Thus, 20*3.25*0.8 = 52 W/h.
To determine the indicator in kilowatts, you need to divide the resulting value by 1000, therefore, 52:1000 = 0.052 kW/hour.

You can work with this indicator. If you need to calculate energy consumption for a specific period, such as a day or a month, the power consumption value must be increased by the number of operating hours. If the laptop works sixteen hours a day, then when turned on it will consume 0.052 * 16 = 0.832 kW.

For calculations, only the time of direct work is taken. That is, if the computer is turned on only 3 hours a day, then for calculations you need to take exactly three hours. Thus, the average number of hours of work per week, month, etc. is determined.

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 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

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.

What is the energy consumption of a laptop in sleep mode?

If the laptop is put into sleep mode, its power consumption is minimized. However, the overall figure is still 2 times higher than during a power outage. The device requires a supply of electricity to maintain system memory and activate all tasks when restarted. The average laptop consumes 10 watts per hour in sleep mode. Compared to stationary devices, this is much less (about 3 times).
Another sleep mode is called hibernation. It is comparable to completely turning off the PC, but some information continues to be stored in memory. You will need to wait a few seconds to continue. In this mode, electricity consumption is 5-10 W per hour.
If the laptop is completely turned off, no data is saved. To resume operation, you need to restart the system. Even in this state, the device continues to consume electricity. For an hour of inactivity, it requires up to 4 W.