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How much power does the laptop take. Which consumes more electricity: laptop or computer? Why? How much electricity does a laptop consume in a month

Immediately after buying a laptop, the question arises how much electricity it will consume. The answer to this question can be given by analyzing its components in detail.

Factors Affecting Electricity Consumption

A simple laptop in an active state on average consumes about 50 watts of electricity per day, respectively 1.5 kW per month.

This indicator turns out to be less than a simple light bulb that is on.

Additionally, video viewing in high quality or constant video games. Most notebooks are equipped with mobile processors, which greatly reduces the power consumption of the notebook. The type of video card has a strong influence on this value. If it is built-in, then the laptop consumes less electricity, otherwise, the device is less economical. The amount of electricity consumed is also affected by the tasks performed by the device.

How to control electricity consumption

Seeing how much electricity a laptop consumes, many will want to reduce these figures. You can control this with operating system... Almost all systems have a consumption saving function. By changing certain parameters, such as the brightness and resolution of the screen, adjusting the sound playback volume, as well as the settings for the sound and video card, you can reduce or increase the amount of electricity consumed by the laptop.

It is important to know how much power your laptop uses when it is off. If the laptop is connected to power, even though it is off, it consumes about 5 W / h.

On the power supply unit of any laptop, parameters are indicated by which you can approximately calculate how much this particular model will consume. For example, if it says 16V 4.9A, then theoretically the power consumption will not exceed 80 watts. But in fact, the real indicators are lower than the calculated ones. It is possible to measure exactly how much energy is actually consumed using special devices.

When choosing a laptop, it should be understood that the amount of electricity consumed is influenced by factors such as: screen size and resolution, processor power, number and power of a video card, as well as display parameters that can be changed using the operating system.

When buying a laptop, people look at it appearance, specifications, software. The question of how much electricity a laptop consumes often arises after the purchase. In our article we will try to answer it and explain what energy consumption depends on.

Energy factors

Electricity consumption depends, as a rule, on the power of its components. Powerful graphics card, powerful processor, a large and bright screen - all this will only increase power consumption. At the same time, you cannot expect energy savings from budget laptops with cheap and outdated processors.

Dependence of energy consumption on tasks

So how much does a laptop consume? Average power consumption is approximately 50W or less. Not very much, right? Of course, this figure also depends on the this moment tasks. HD video, powerful gaming and math add up to power consumption.

And of course, how much power a laptop consumes depends on its model. Small notebooks with a diagonal of 11 to 14 inches are usually equipped with mobile processors, which are much more economical in terms of energy consumption. Not uncommon and two cards - integrated and discrete. The use of the first is more economical, and the second is used only for tasks requiring a high load. You also need to remember that even a laptop that is turned off, but connected to an outlet, continues to consume electricity. The average consumption in this case is about 5 watts per hour.

Impact of software

Separately, note the impact software for energy consumption. Almost all operating systems have the ability to change power modes. Typically, this means changing the brightness of the screen, the period when the display is turned off and hard disk degraded performance when idle.

In our article, we have summarized the main factors affecting the power consumption of laptops. This information will allow you to use the capabilities of your laptop to the extent that you need, and take care of the environmentally friendly operation of your device!

We continue the series of articles about the energy consumption of modern technology. Taking into account the constantly growing electricity tariffs, this information is becoming relevant today for more and more segments of the population. Let's figure it out with you today, how much does a laptop consume?

On average, modern laptops with a 15 "screen consume about 60 watts per hour, with a 13" screen about 40 watts per hour. It is impossible to give an accurate answer to the question: "How many watts does a laptop consume?" external devices and activity wireless connections(, bluetooth, Wi-Max and so on). The most powerful (very powerful!) Large 17-inch laptop I've come across - when fully loaded, it ate as much as 150 watts per hour of work !! This surprised me a lot, because for laptops with mobile processors and all other components, this is a very high power consumption! Powerful gaming laptops, on the other hand, usually do not exceed the 100 Watt / hour power consumption even when fully loaded. How much energy your laptop consumes can also be seen in its technical characteristics, as a rule, it indicates the maximum electricity consumption of a laptop at full load in watts. In any case, a working laptop consumes electricity on a par with a few turned on. To save electricity, do not keep your laptop turned on all the time; turn it off if you do not plan to use it for several hours. Also, the laptop can be put into standby mode, so that it can be instantly turned on in case of urgent need, and electricity in sleep mode the laptop consumes an average of about 10 watts (more often even less) per hour in sleep mode.

How many kilowatts a laptop consumes per month is not difficult to calculate, given the time it is used daily. Calculations will be approximate, but as close as possible to real consumption figures. For example, a modern 15-inch (15.6 to be exact) laptop with active work for about 8 hours a day and complete shutdown it from the network at other times in a month will consume about 15 kW of electricity.

It should be remembered that even with the laptop turned off, the power supply connected to the mains still consumes electricity! Of course, in small quantities - about 5 watts per hour, but in a month this already comes out several kW of energy consumption, which can be “painlessly” avoided - therefore, be sure to turn off the laptop power supply from the mains when not in use! This is not only your means, but it will also be safe, since the power supply connected to the network is constantly in operation, thereby reducing its service life, the unit body heats up, which can lead to a fire (extremely unlikely, but there is no unnecessary caution).

Good day!

Not too long ago I was asked quite interest Ask about the power consumption of a laptop (whether it consumes more than an ordinary incandescent light bulb). To be honest, I have never compared ...

In general, there is a difference between a laptop and a laptop: it is one thing to compare it with an ultra-beech, and quite another - with a gaming "beast". The difference will be too huge ...

In general, in this article I decided to make small calculations on the power consumption of a laptop: I will show how in kW / h (approx. : kilowatt per hour) and in rubles (I will calculate how much we pay for the operation of a laptop per month. By the way, many will be able to independently make such calculations for their device) .

I think many will be interested in it (lately, the topic of energy, Eco, etc. is more popular than ever).

And so, more to the point ...

Approximate calculations of electricity consumption

1) Determine the output voltages

Take your power supply unit (charger) to your laptop and examine it carefully: there should be a small sticker on it (99.99% of devices have it!). This sticker should indicate the main parameters: model, input and output voltages, manufacturer, etc.

We are interested in output voltage(if you have English text on the sticker - look for "Output"). In my example below - these parameters are "19V === 6.15A".

Laptop power supply sticker (typical laptop adapter)

2) We calculate the maximum consumed electricity per hour

Now you need to make a simple calculation: 19V * 6.15A = 116.85(W / hour).

116.85 W / h: 1000 ≈ 0.117 kW / h.

3) We calculate how much we pay for it in rubles ...

It all depends on how much electricity costs in your area. For simplicity of calculations, I will take a figure of 5 rubles. per 1 kW (this is even slightly higher than the average in our country).

Thus, it turns out: 0.117 kW / hour * 5 rubles / kW = 0.585 rubles / hour.

Those. the maximum cost of an hour of work for a laptop with such a power supply unit will be about 0.585 rubles. Whether it is a lot or a little, everyone will decide for himself ...

Actually, now, in order to determine how much you pay for his work per month, simply multiply the resulting number by the number of hours you spend at your laptop. For example, if you work on average for a laptop 3 hours a day, then we get the following picture:

3 hours * 30 days * 0.585 rubles / hour ≈ 52.65 rubles (per month)

4) About errors and important aspects

Now I want to make a small digression ... The fact is that our calculations are approximate, and they are calculated for the maximum load of the device. But for most users, the laptop is not loaded by 90-100% all its time in order to "eat" the maximum amount of energy, which means that the consumed electricity will be less (for accurate measurement to each cotton wool - you will need special devices - I think that most people do not need this and are not interested) .

Thus, as everyone probably guessed, all the games that are launched, "heavy" editors, converters, etc. - increase the load on the laptop, and therefore increase the power consumption.

To reduce electricity consumption, you can:

PS

By the way, a switched off laptop, but connected to a power outlet, still consumes energy! True, very little, only about 3-5 W / h. For a month, this amounts to about 3 kW (or about 15 rubles). Such is the entertaining arithmetic ...

Summarizing: A typical average laptop consumes energy comparable to a conventional incandescent light bulb (i.e. about 60-100 W).

That's all. Good luck to all!

Compared to standard computer, the power consumption of the laptop is quite modest. Nevertheless, some models (mainly the so-called "gaming" ones) still draw a lot of power, which ultimately significantly affects the amount of the monthly resource bill. However, any portable machine has many built-in functions that can seriously reduce light consumption and not degrade performance too much.

So, exactly how much electricity does your laptop consume, both per hour and per month? We will talk about this in more detail below.

What affects energy intensity

For a laptop, power consumption depends, as is the case with stationary computer, on the intensity of the processor and hard disk.

The strongest load is given, in particular:

  • watching videos in HD quality;
  • multiplayer games;
  • a large number of applications running in the background;
  • display size;
  • owner-selected brightness.

Keep in mind that your laptop will consume electricity even when it is turned off, unless you unplug it network cable... However, consumption in this situation will be scanty - no more than 5 watts per hour.

How much electricity exactly does your laptop consume?

To know exactly how much electricity your laptop is using, there are two main metrics to determine. We are talking about the power of the laptop itself and its power supply. It is the last value that must be taken into account, since it determines how much energy will be taken from the outlet.

How much electricity a laptop power supply needs is quite simple to find out - it has a tag with all the main technical characteristics. Take a look at it and you will find out:

  • operating voltage suitable for both BZ and a computer;
  • current strength (it is indicated in amperes).

This information is quite enough to calculate the power of the machine. We simply multiply both indicators by each other. Here's an example:

  • voltage 100-240;
  • current - 2.1;
  • 100 x 2.1 = 210;
  • 240 x 2.1 = 504.

This is how we got the upper and lower threshold. In reality, a laptop will burn about 80 percent of the maximum. This means that 504 should be multiplied by 0.8 again. It turns out that the consumption per hour will be 403.2 watts.

So, in order to find out how much electricity your computer will spend in a month, you will need to perform the following simple arithmetic calculations:

  • 403.2 x 24 = 9,678.8;
  • 9 678.8 × 30 = 290 304.

That is, in kilowatts, 290.3 will be released. The figure is quite impressive, but in fact, the machine does not work all the time - it is enough to be absent for just a couple of minutes, and it goes into sleep mode. In addition, the average person uses a computer at home for no more than 8 hours a day. This means that the result will be more modest: (403.2 × 8) × 30 = 96,768, or 96.76 kilowatts.

If we consider that electricity now costs about 4 rubles per kW, then we get the following - a laptop increases the electricity bill by 387 rubles per month. As you can see, this is not very little.

Additional electricity costs

As already noted at the beginning of the article, even a switched off laptop, if you do not disconnect its cord from the network, continues to consume electricity. Moreover, many people who are versed in computer technology know that it is better not to turn off the computer at all - it is enough to put it into sleep mode. Such a measure, in particular, protects HDD and ensures the extension of its service life.

Thus, in order to find out the flow rate when the machine is turned off, 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 16. Here we make the calculation as follows:

  • 5 × 16 = 80;
  • 80 × 30 = 2,400.

This means that an additional 2.4 kilowatts will burn up, that is, 9.6 rubles will be added to the account.

When it comes to sleep mode, in which the power consumption is about 9 watts, it will come out: (9 × 16) × 30 = 4 320 or 4.32 kW. Here, in monetary terms, you get 17.28.

How to calculate the consumption of the laptop itself

Those who are interested in the answer to the question "How many watts does my laptop consume?" However, the machine itself uses slightly less power.

All the necessary technical specifications can be found on the bottom cover of the laptop. In our case, we will talk about 19 volts at a current of up to 2.1 A.

We perform calculations in this way:

  • 19 x 2.1 = 39.9 watts;
  • 39.9 × 8 (hours of work) = 319.2;
  • 319.2 × 30 = 9,576.

At the same time, do not forget that in reality the car 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.

How to save energy

At the beginning of the article, we already noted that, unlike a stationary machine, portable ones have many opportunities to reduce energy consumption.

First of all, to save money, unplug the equipment from the network after the battery is fully charged. This simple measure will reduce costs by about 20 percent. In turn, prolong the work in offline will enable the optimization function. In this case:

  • the brightness of the monitor is automatically reduced;
  • the processor clock speed drops;
  • the additional video card is disconnected and the built-in one starts to work.

Also, when connected to the network, you should manual mode reduce display brightness - optimally set it to 80 percent of the maximum.

It is not out of place to optimize the operation of the operating system. For this:

  • remove all programs that have not been used for more than a few months;
  • defragment your disk regularly;
  • disable autorun for applications that you do not need - it is better to force them to start, as needed;
  • watch movies in the minimum acceptable resolution;
  • clean the cooler more often - the more dust there is on it, the sooner the processor overheats, and, accordingly, the fan runs almost continuously;
  • do not leave flash drives and other equipment in USB connectors if you do not need it;
  • install additional RAM- this, oddly enough, reduces energy consumption.