Controlling the consumption of our devices is important in order to save on the electricity bill. However, sometimes we may have doubts about how much a particular device spends. In this article we are going to explain what is the electricity consumption of having a computer on . You will be able to know how much your equipment spends and thus be able to calculate the daily or monthly consumption. Of course, as you will see, it will depend on the type of device, since not all consume the same.
How much does a computer consume?
With the passage of time, computers have been improving in terms of efficiency . Today they consume much less than 15 years ago, for example. It will also depend on the size of the screen, the power it has, the use at that time, etc. You must bear in mind that each component will have a consumption. For example, the fans, the processor, the RAM memory… But of course, there are components that are only activated at certain times. If you use a laptop with battery you will notice that it drains more when you turn on Wi-Fi or start playing games, for example.
If we take into account a laptop, which today is what most of us use, we can indicate that it normally consumes between 200 and 250 W. It can be less or more, depending on the device and also the use that we give it. If it is a desktop computer, it would be necessary to raise the consumption a little more through the screen.
Let’s say that on average our laptop consumes 225 W. The next thing you need to know is how long you are going to use that computer. Let’s say you work with him and you want to know the consumption of your 8-hour working day . Let’s also say that you are going to use it 24 days a month . The next thing would be to know the price you pay per kWh , which we can put, for example, €0.16/kWh.
You have to calculate the total hours, which would be 192 (8 hours for 24 days) multiplied by the W or watt, which in this case we have put 225. You divide that figure by 1,000 and it gives you the result in kWh, which would be 43, two. Finally, you multiply 43.2 kWh by the current price of €0.16 and you get €6.91 per month .
You can transfer that figure to a whole year, to 6 months, to a day, to an hour… It is simply calculated based on what you need to know. Therefore, you will need to know the W of consumption, the hours of use and the price of the current kWh.
Calculate consumption with a plug
You can also help yourself with a plug that allows you to know the consumption of any device. It is very useful to calculate how much a computer spends, for example, but also any other device that you have plugged in at home. You just have to plug it into electricity and connect any device.
These consumption meters are cheap, although the price will depend on the characteristics of each one. You can find them from 15-20 euros. Some can be configured to assign a price per kWh and it directly calculates how much each device consumes at all times.
In short, as you can see, it is easy to calculate how much a computer consumes on. You can calculate how much you spend during a day, during a month, the whole year… You just have to know how many hours you use it and the W it consumes. From there you can transfer it to the real cost on the invoice.