How to Calculate the Power Consumption of a PC

Electricity costs money and uses resources. Desktop computers generally use between 65 and 250 watts of electricity, though power usage can increase or decrease depending on how you use it. The amount of electricity the PC manufacturer says the computer uses is not usually accurate, especially if you have changed any internal components. If you want to know just how much power your PC uses, you can calculate it using an online form or use a watt-hour meter.

Things You'll Need

• Watt-hour meter
• Computer

Instructions

1. Turn off your computer. Plug the tower electrical cord into a watt-hour meter and plug the meter into the wall. You can adjust the meter to read current electrical rates as well as rates over time.

2. Plug in your monitor and other PC components to the watt-hour meter after you have a good average (a week or so) on your tower. Sum the average power usage for all components to determine how much power your total PC system uses.

3. Fill out a power consumption calculator form. Several are available online. (See provided link.) You will need to know specifics about your PC, such as the video card and motherboard specifications.

Tips & Warnings

• Watt-hour meters can be purchased at most department and hardware stores.

• Turn off all computer components before you plug them into the watt-hour meter.

Resources

• PC Power Consumption Calculator