There are some factors that most laptop users seem to be concerned about, or not at all concerned with.If you’re a curious person who’s been trying to figure out everything about a machine you’ve been using for years or want to figure out the energy usage of the one you’re thinking about buying, we can help.
If you’re only interested in the numbers, the answer is straightforward: an average 15-inch laptop consumes roughly 60 watts per hour. This is not, however, a precise amount of food. There are numerous elements that influence energy use that you may not be aware of. Charging, screen brightness, active applications, graphics card utilization, and other factors can all influence power consumption.
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Energy Consumption in Laptops: The Factors
Before we get into the factors that influence it, there are a few things to consider. Every year, a large number of brands produce laptops. Companies have been trying to make the best machine with the least amount of electricity while still working as well as any laptop you’ve used as we progress towards better use of technology.
As a result, your laptop’s power consumption will be dictated by its type. The more extra hardware you attach to it, the more energy it will consume.Let’s take a look at the factors that determine how much power is used.
1. Laptop Type [Power Consumption Is Higher In Gaming Laptops & Workstations]
The type of laptop you’ve been using is one of the key determinants of energy use. A very basic and ordinary laptop will require roughly 60 watts per hour of energy. It will be much more if it is a gaming laptop or any other high-end laptop.
A few models evaluated in our laboratory may output far greater than 100W per hour on average, which is why the laptop becomes quite hot and requires a cooling pad to cool down. Similarly, if you charge such laptops, the cost goes up even more.
2. CPU
It is common knowledge that a laptop with a low-grade CPU or processor consumes more power than a powerful CPU such as a laptop with an Intel i7 or Intel i9. The reason for this is as straightforward as it appears. A processor that isn’t good enough will require more power to give enough performance for your laptop, whereas a powerful CPU works well with the power it uses.
3. Graphics Card
The higher the graphics card’s performance, the higher its power consumption. When playing a high-end game, your laptop’s GPU, for example, will provide better graphics. A high-performance GPU, such as the RTX 2080, 2070, or 2060, found in most gaming laptops and workstations, is required for applications such as machine learning and data science.
A laptop with a high-end GPU can also have a high-end CPU. In most cases, it also includes a higher-quality display and a larger battery capacity, among other things. As a result, the total electricity consumption of all of them will be higher.
4. Adapter Wattage
The power source that connects to the main system is the adapter on your laptop. The larger the adapter for your laptop, the more powerful it must be. Keep this in mind if you’re looking to upgrade your laptop. Ensure that whatever you install is compatible with your laptop’s power supply.
5. Screen Size
The most significant drain on your laptop’s battery is the screen. The more battery your screen consumes, the larger it is.
A 16-inch laptop screen consumes about 60 watts per hour on average. If you opt for a larger model, though, your wattage can reach up to 100 watts each hour.
How Many Watts Does Gaming Laptop Use?
Another major laptop category that requires special attention is gaming laptops, as everything related to gaming laptops requires a combination of powerful and unique components. As a gamer, you understand that in order to run some high-end games, your laptop must be at its peak performance.
Furthermore, practically all gaming laptops are hefty and bulky due to their inclusion of the best of everything. Gaming laptops have it all, from strong processors to long-lasting batteries.
Check the charger with which the gaming laptop is charged and see how much power it consumes. The Acer Predator Helios 300, one of the most popular gaming laptops, features a charger with 180W power, which we have mentioned as one of the greatest laptops in virtually every laptop series. It consumes at least 180 watts per hour in this method.
How Many Watts Does an Apple MacBook Consume?
If you use a Macbook, you should be aware that a standard 13-inch Macbook Pro consumes 61 Watts of power from the charger, while a 15-inch Macbook consumes 87 Watts each hour.
Using the aforementioned assumptions, you can simply calculate the cost of electricity that you will consume each day and over the course of a week. Because a Macbook consumes an average of 61 Watt/h, or 0.061 kWh, and is used for around 10 hours each day, it will cost roughly 7.32 cents per week, for a total of 51.24 cents (assuming a 12 cents/kWh power cost).
Ways to consume Less Power on your Laptop
If you’ve already calculated how much energy your laptop consumes and aren’t satisfied with the results, you’ll need to think of new ways to save energy. We’ve tried a few different methods for our computer and discovered a few that you can try.
- Make sure the plug is removed once the laptop is fully charged.
- Never overload your laptop because it will deteriorate the battery and use more power.
- Connect the charger when the battery charge reaches 10%. Don’t wait for it to stop by itself. This process necessitates extra work, drains the battery, and consumes more energy.
- Get a cooling pad to keep your laptop cool while it’s charging.
- To save energy, wait for the laptop to cool down before restarting your work.
- To avoid any system stress, update your processor and other hardware.
- Use the original charger that came with the product at all times.
There are several alternative ways to spend energy that you can explore. The use of high-brightness screens consumes a lot of energy. This can be avoided by dimming the screen while it is not in use, which also protects your eyes.
How to calculate Watts Consumed by a Laptop?
Finally, all that is required is a basic understanding of how to calculate the actual watts consumed by your laptop. Either way, understanding the laptop’s charger power consumption, as well as other aspects, might help you estimate. Alternatively, you can simply use a power consumption monitor to determine how much power your laptop consumes.
1. Manual Calculation
Taking into account the electricity used to charge your laptop, you can simply calculate the approximate amount of power your laptop consumes (Adapter wattage.) If you require a more precise figure, you may need to factor in other factors as well.
The Acer Predator Laptop, as previously mentioned, has a charging adapter that consumes 180 watts per hour. Apart from that, the CPU and GPU of the machine are two of the most important components that tend to enhance overall consumption.
In most systems, Intel processors and NVIDIA graphics cards, or even AMD, are readily available. You may either look up the power consumption of these components on the official website or open the rear panel and inspect it for yourself to be sure.
A CPU’s power consumption is between 45 and 50 watts, whereas a GPU’s power consumption is between 75 and 80 watts. Overall, these two factors raise the number of watts required by a laptop by over 10-15%, which is simply an average and can vary greatly depending on the components utilized.
Furthermore, at maximum brightness, the screen brightness changes between 0.5W and 15W each hour.These are a few of the components that are taken into account, but there are others as well, such as the SSD/HDD, RAM, and so on. Although an exact figure may not be possible to obtain manually, an approximate estimate can be obtained for a general concept.
It also consumes roughly 60 watts of electricity, or 0.06 kWh, as we all know. This means that if a laptop is used for eight hours per day, it will cost 6.76 cents per day to run the laptop (assuming a 12 cents per kWh average energy unit cost).
2. Electricity Usage: The Calculation
You can use an Electricity Usage Monitor to get a more precise calculation. This device may be plugged into a wall outlet and will tell you how many watts your laptop has been using while charging. Everything is included because all of the power is drawn from a single plug, and the outcome is displayed on the monitor in seconds.
You can also use the device to control other appliances in your home. Curiosity drives you to do unimaginable things, even if it is not necessary.
To use it, simply insert the charger into the gadget and plug it into the wall socket. This will start measuring the amount of electricity your charger uses from the outlet. It will typically display approximately 60W, which is the power designed with the charger.F
Furthermore, once the laptop has been charged and the battery has been fully charged. You can now see how much power the laptop consumes when it goes from the battery to its various components. This gadget can also be used to calculate the overall amount of power utilized by the laptop over the time you’ve been using it.
This useful tool is widely available on e-commerce sites, and you can use it to learn more about your laptop and other devices.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the power consumption of a 15.6-inch laptop?
We tested the specifications of about 237 models and found that on average, most 15.6-inch laptops consume about 60 watts of power.
What is the wattage of a 17-inch laptop?
We compared the features of 171 different 17-inch laptops and discovered that most laptops use an average of 90 watts!
Is gaming laptop wattage more powerful than regular laptop wattage?
Watts of gaming laptops are more than basic low-end machines. Because it has a high-resolution monitor, better graphics, a larger adapter wattage, a faster CPU, and more.
Is it true that a laptop uses less energy than a PC?
Since it has so many components, there is no doubt that a laptop consumes less power than a PC. There are different types of laptops that use more power than a standard laptop. So, let’s see how many watts a laptop uses and what components affect it.
Is there a difference in laptop wattage between brands like Acer, Dell, ASUS, HP, and others?
The watt usage restrictions are the same regardless of the brand of your laptop: HP, Lenovo, DELL, ASUS, Acer, MSI, Razer Blade, and more. If the laptop has a high specification, such as a powerful GPU, the cost will suffice. However, if the two brands make a laptop with comparable specifications, the wattage will be the same.
Conclusion
To sum up what we’ve discussed so far concerning the laptop’s power consumption, here’s a rundown of what we’ve covered. In general, a laptop consumes 60W of electricity during charging, however, this varies greatly depending on the other components included.
Instead of going through a laborious process, it is advisable to use a gadget to find out how many watts your laptops use. The procedure may or may not produce an accurate result, leaving you perplexed. You can use your time and intelligence if you only need an idea. However, if you require accurate information for a legitimate reason, make sure to use the Electricity Usage Monitor.
Otherwise, you may always tell us about your laptop’s power usage and how you managed to conserve energy.
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Arun is a self-published author and blogger with a passion for sharing his knowledge and expertise on Tech with people who are looking to find the perfect content for their needs. He tries to furnish you with genuine content about gadgets & tech that can assist you with deciding whether a gadget is appropriate according to your requirements or not.
