How Much Electricity Does a Computer Use?

computer/laptop electricity usage
How Much Electricity Does a Computer Use

If you ever wonder how electricity works, then you are not alone in this. The relation between electricity and the computer is since its invention, and many have a mystical confusion in mind about it. In order to keep your computer system works, you must grasp the basic idea of how a computer works and how much electricity does a computer use. For this purpose, we have written this blog to educate our readers a little more about the electricity usage of a computer. 

Introduction

Most computers operate on the power consumption of 400 watts per hour, but this can vary according to computer usage. The CPU requires about the same number of watts-hour as the standard bulb. Any device running on a processor of the type Pentium uses around 100 Wh. This is the estimation with the monitor-off condition. The monitor on your computer is likely to use more power than the actual processor itself.

When the computer is switched on, the rate of electricity usage increases, different computers uses different amounts of energy. Monitors, speakers, printers, and other hardware will all use some electricity to run. Connecting those things to your computer will also take power. All of that will affect your use of electricity. Furthermore, the usage of electricity is strongly dependent on the Video card, which uses a significant amount of energy. Using Crossfire mode or SLI during 3D gaming can affect electricity usage.  

An Example 

Electricity usage depends on the utilization of any software. For example, MS word will use less power than a game played. Uploading, downloading, and streaming files will all take up more energy than reading a pdf file or doing something else relevant to the document.

With the following example, you can make a rough guess on how electricity usage varies with the use of various programs of the computer. But you cannot estimate how much a computer uses electricity, with the varying amount of countless possible usage.

Sleep Mode

Are you confused about the notion that the computer takes more energy in sleep mode than properly shut off? Then you are not alone in this. People think that powering the computer down takes more electricity, and it is not healthy for the computer/laptop battery. Another misconception is that putting it on sleep mode will no consume much power. 

In practice, both of these theories are false, and there is a negligible difference between putting a machine to sleep and shutting it down completely.

 Ways to Reduce Electricity Consumption of Computer 

There are various things you can do to enhance the electricity usage in order to get the computer run as effectively as possible. Rather than using multiple outlets for your personal computer and its accessories, join their plugs into a single power strip.

That way, when you’re about to turn off the computer, all you need to do is pull a single plug, and the energy stops flowing to every device connected to it—using a laptop rather than a desktop computer is a simple way to control electricity consumption. 

Their portability is followed by greater flexibility in any place they are used and, in this process, consume less energy. Eventually, when it comes to your computer’s settings, make sure you allow the sleep mode to kick in after prolonged inactivity periods. This will significantly reduce the amount of energy used, enabling your machine to increase its productivity.

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