Most users turn on the PC when we use it, and although we can leave it on during the day at specific times even if we do not use it (for example, to go to eat), there are also many of people who leave it for 24 hours without doing anything. This, it should be known, supposes a notable increase in the electricity billand if you are one of those leaving the PC on 24 hours a day without using it, maybe after reading how much does it cost you stop doing it
The rising price of electricity is a concern for the vast majority of people, and that is that being able to run our electrical devices is becoming more and more expensive. A PC does not consume exactly little, and even if it does not work and its consumption is contained, it can suppose a great bill increase electricity at the end of the month.
This makes it difficult for you to leave the PC on 24 hours a day
Having a PC on 24 hours a day is not something trivial, because no matter how idle your PC is and does not consume much energy, of course it consumes much more than having it completely off. Whether out of laziness or any other reason, there are a lot of users who leave it on 24×7, and that at the end of the month can have a cost that you could save without much effort (remember do not turn off the PC when you are not using it).
Each PC is a world and its consumption will be different depending on the hardware it has mounted inside, so to calculate how much it costs you to have it 24 hours a day we will have to make an approximation with a practical example ; For this we are going to use a real case which is one of the PCs of our writing team, although the assumption that we are going to make is going to be with varied use.
This PC features an Intel Core i5-12600K processor, with an ASUS Prime Z690 Plus motherboard, 32 GB of RAM in two DDR5 6000 MHz modules, an NVMe SSD and an RTX 3070 Ti, all powered by a 1000W source with efficiency 80 Plus Platinum. In addition, this equipment has a total of 6 fans installed in the case (three in the front, one in the back and two in the heatsink), although in this case without RGB.
The consumption (measured with an Efergy eSocket meter) of this PC at rest, not counting peripherals or monitors, is 36W, when playing, it usually has a consumption of around 400W. Now suppose we use it 4 hours a day on average for gaming, and the rest we have it to do with nothing, including the premise of leaving it on at night and never turn it off.
With these calculations, the PC would consume us:
- 4 hours of play on 400W: 1.6 kWh
- 20 hours standby at 36W: 0.72 kWh
In total, the equipment consumes 2.32 kWh per day at this tariff, which means that it consumes 69.6 kWh per month, which if multiplied by the cost of electricity in the electricity bill (we assume an average of $0.18/kWh if you have a very good tariff) gives us a cost of $12.52 per monthand that’s just the PC not including monitors etc.
Now, if instead of leaving the PC on 24 hours a day, you turn it off at night, we can assume 4 hours of use for gaming and 6 hours of idle time (that is, you switched on and you use it 10 hours a day). In this case, the daily energy consumption would be 1.81 kWh, 54.48 kWh per month, or whatever amounts to the same, this would translate to $9.8 per month.
In short, turning off your PC when you’re not using it could save you around $3 a month, and that’s not counting monitors and other peripherals, and assuming your electricity rate is really, really good. In some cases, this saving can reach up to up to 20 dollarsso of course if you are one of those who leave the PC 24 hours a day, we recommend that you do not do so, both for the money you will save, and for the absurd wear and tear of the components.
