Every laptop draws electric power. But how many watts does a laptop use? On average a laptop uses 50 W of power. This measure however is for standard laptops with mild usage. If you rigously use your laptop at high resolution the power consumption can jump up to 200 W.
Furthermore, is there a way to know how much electricity does a laptop use in 24 hours, per month or annually?
Well, this is what this guide is for. Here I will share all details about how many Watts does a laptop use when up, sleeping and not being in used.
Also look put for the tip on how you can make sure your laptop does not consume too much of power overtime.
What Is the Average Wattage of a Laptop?
The measure of Watts used by your laptop is not a fixed unit but a range. It begins from 20W and can go up to 200W. However, most laptops consume 50-65 Watts of power when used for internet surfing playing in-built games or downloading small sized files.
If you have a specially designed gaming laptop for Minecraft or other advanced digital games, the Laptop Wattage can easily go as high as 350W. Likewise, high-end laptops also tend to take in more power when being used.
Did you know: Your battery tends to die quicker when your laptop uses more power to operate.
Watts Used by Laptop in 24 Hours, a Month & 1 Year
In 24 hours, a laptop can utilize around 60-80 Watts of energy depending on the duration of its use. If you are part of the corporate world and use your laptop for video calls, PPTs, meetings, research and various tasks for 8 hours non-stop, it will draw power at the measure of 100+ Watts.
When it comes to a month, your laptop will cover sum wattage of 1,600 W/ month easily. This is the combined power drain from your laptop when it is switched off, in power mode, and in active mode.
However, if you only consider the usage of electricity when your laptop is working (active mode), it will utilize around 1,531.00W in a month.
All this over a year will yield a power drain of 8,373 Watts. This, however, will differ from the quality of hardware your laptop has and even the duration of use. Hence annually, a laptop will consume 2000-8000 Watts.
Did You Know: Your laptop charger will consume power if it is attached to an outlet but not plugged in.
Where To Check Laptop Power Consumption?
You can know how much power your laptop consumes, either by using a Wattmeter or the power supply calculator.
It is essential to know how many Watts your laptop use to maintain the best health status for your device. This becomes more vital if you spend hours on your laptop for digital drawing, gaming, teaching or all those tasks that are lengthy.
Given below are the ways to know how many Watts your laptop is actually consuming –
Get A Wattmeter
If you have a Wattmeter, you can easily check the power consumption of any electronic device, including your laptop. All you need to do is plug in the Wattmeter via USB to your computer and take note of the reading on it.
Use the Power Supply Calculator
You can surf the internet to find multiple power calculators that will help you determine what the Wattage of your device is. Just entering the basic details, like the device type and hours of use, will give you the total energy consumed by your laptop along with the estimated expenditure incurred by you due to this power usage.
Factors Affecting Laptop Wattage
When you are trying to answer how many watts a laptop use, you should pay heed to all the elements that affect the power consumption of your computer.
The most vital thing that will influence your laptop wattage is its hardware (CPU, GPU, Battery, Cooling system, size of the laptop) and a load of software in your laptop.
Take a look at the pointers below for all the factors that influence wattage of your laptop –
- Size
- Type of Battery (50 Wh and 90 Wh)
- CPU (40 watts to 105 Watts)
- GPU (25 to 300 Watts)
- Brightness level
- Charger ( 60 W minimum)
- Cooling Fans (3-5 W)
- Number of Software in use
Tips To Lower Laptop Wattage
You can reduce the power consumption of your laptop by following the tips given below –
- Switch to power saving mode.
- Reduce screen brightness.
- Get cooling pads to reduce heat.
- Remove/ deactivate unused software and features of your laptop.
- When not using the laptop for a long time, switch it off.
- Reduce screen timeout.
- Plug out all outlets when not in use.
Frequently Asked Questions
A mid-size laptop will use around 20 Watts in an hour. This can be increased up to 100 Watts with excessive use of your laptop.
A laptop charger uses a minimum of 30 Watts of electricity to function properly. The Wattage of the laptop charger will only increase from this point depending on the usage.
Laptops do not usually use a lot of electricity on a daily basis. It only uses 50 Watts of energy, which is half of a PC’s wattage (100 W).
Conclusion
That was all from my side on how many watts laptop use. Remember, the cost and amount of power consumed will depend on what is the state of your device and for how many hours you use it. Hence, whenever possible, give a break to your laptop and yourself.
