How Much Power Does A Gaming Laptop Consume?

Your Laptop’s Electricity Consumption

Though many of us use laptops frequently, be it for work, school or leisure, none of us really

think about how much electricity our laptops consume. If you’re interested in electronics, or simply curious to find out how much energy it takes to power your laptop, this article will provide you with everything you need to know about your laptop’s power consumption.

Generally speaking, most laptops consume anywhere between 30 to 70 watts per hour.

However, the number of watts your laptop consumes depends on various factors such as screen size, the type of graphics card used, and how frequently you charge your laptop. 

Trying to cut down on your electricity bill? Learn more about the open electricity market.

Factors that Affect Your Laptop’s Power Consumption

Apart from internal hardware, most people also connect peripherals such as keyboards, external storage disks, and printers to their laptops. Factors like these all contribute to the rise in your laptop’s energy usage.

However, the amount of energy your laptop consumes is mainly dependent on the type of laptop you use. Nowadays, with the advancements in technology, it isn’t hard to find laptops that offer increased performance and use less energy as compared to older models.

Let’s take a closer look at how these factors affect your laptop’s power usage.

1. Type of Laptop

The kind of laptop you use is the biggest contributing factor when it comes to energy consumption. Basic laptops use about 60 watts of energy every hour while more expensive laptops such as those you can use for gaming consume a higher amount of energy. Laptops that consume more than 100 watts per hour also tend to get hot easily and require cooling stands or pads to prevent them from overheating.

2. Graphics Card

The quality of your laptop’s display depends on its graphics card (GPU). While most high-end laptops come with better quality GPUs, cheaper ones normally use lower grade GPUs.
If you plan on using your laptop for simple tasks like typing out documents or searching the Web, using a lower grade GPU will be fine. But, if you plan on gaming or doing graphic designing, a higher grade GPU will improve your laptop’s visuals. Do bear in mind that if your laptop uses a better quality GPU, it will also consume more energy.

3. Central Processing Unit

Your laptop’s central processing unit, or CPU, is another component that determines the amount of energy your laptop uses. Higher grade CPUs require less power as they are much more efficient than lower grade CPUs that need more energy to perform the same functions.

4. Adapter

An adapter is basically a power supply. The bigger your laptop, the more powerful your adapter needs to be, and the more energy it will consume.

If you’re looking for a laptop that doesn’t consume too much energy, try choosing a smaller one that doesn’t require such a powerful adapter.

How Much Power Does A Gaming Laptop Consume?

Out of all the different types of laptops out there, gaming laptops offer better performance than most as they need to be powerful enough to run gaming software. High-quality CPUs, GPUs, and powerful adapters are what make gaming laptops one of the best laptops to use.

However, the outstanding performance that gaming laptops offer also comes with a price — most gaming laptops consume a ton of energy. For example, the Acer Predator Helios 300, a popular laptop choice for gamers, runs on 180 Watts per hour. 

What Is The Energy Consumption Of A MacBook?

Those that have a MacBook probably know how much power your laptop consumes as Apple includes the adapter’s wattage on its side. The latest 13-inch MacBook Air has a 30W power adapter while the higher-end 13-inch MacBook Pro requires a 61W power adapter.

This means that using your 13-inch MacBook Pro for about 8 hours will cost you 5.86 cents a day (assuming that your cost of electricity is 12 cents per kWh).

How Can You Reduce the Energy Consumption of Your Laptop?

By now, you should be able to get a rough estimate of how much electricity your laptop uses. If your laptop is consuming more energy than you thought, here are some ways you can lower your laptop’s power consumption.

• Prevent your laptop from overheating by purchasing a cooling stand or pad.
• Make sure that the adapter you’re using to charge your laptop is of the correct wattage.
• Don’t charge your laptop for too long as it damages the battery.
• Make sure that your laptop’s software is up to date.
• Lower the brightness of your laptop’s screen

Calculate Your Laptop’s Energy Consumption

So, with all this being said, how do you know the actual amount of energy your laptop is consuming? There are two ways to go about doing this. Taking into account the various factors mentioned above such as adapter wattage and the quality of your laptop’s CPU will provide you with an estimate of your laptop’s power consumption. Alternatively, you can also use a monitor to keep track of your laptop’s electricity usage.

1. Calculate Your Laptop’s Power Consumption Manually

Apart from your laptop’s adapter wattage, you can try searching for the energy consumption of your laptop’s GPU and CPU to calculate how much electricity your laptop uses.

Most of the information can be found online or you can check the components of your laptop by taking off its back cover. It may not be feasible to know the exact energy consumption of some factors such as screen brightness. However, if your laptop has its brightness level turned all the way up, it usually consumes between 0.5W and 15W every hour.

2. Using An Electricity Usage Monitor

An easier way to know how much power your laptop consumes is to use an electricity usage monitor. To track how much energy your laptop consumes, simply plug one of these monitors into your wall socket when you charge your laptop. The figure that the electricity usage monitor shows will be the exact amount of energy your laptop has consumed.

Conclusion

Now that you know a bit more about calculating your laptop’s energy consumption and the factors that determine how much power your laptop uses, it’s up to you to decide how you want to find out how much electricity your laptop consumes.