There is no single figure for every PC: electricity use depends on its average power draw at the wall while streaming. At a steady 30 W, for example, a PC uses 21.6 kWh in 30 days; at 100 W, it uses 72 kWh. To estimate your own setup, measure its average wall draw in the intended streaming state, convert that to monthly kilowatt-hours, then apply the marginal energy rate on your current electricity bill.
Estimate monthly electricity use from average watts
Use this conversion: average watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = kilowatt-hours (kWh). A 24/7 stream runs for 720 hours in a 30-day month, so each watt sustained continuously uses 0.72 kWh per month. Over 365 days, each watt uses 8.76 kWh.
| Average wall draw | Energy in 30 days | Energy in 365 days |
|---|---|---|
| 30 W | 21.6 kWh | 262.8 kWh |
| 60 W | 43.2 kWh | 525.6 kWh |
| 100 W | 72 kWh | 876 kWh |
| 200 W | 144 kWh | 1,752 kWh |
These are arithmetic examples, not measured or representative results for ambient-streaming PCs. A computer’s actual draw can vary with its hardware, encoding method, stream workload, power settings and connected equipment. A power supply’s rated wattage, a CPU’s rating or an advertised maximum does not tell you the PC’s continuous wall draw.
Measure your actual streaming setup
- Choose what to include. Decide whether you want the PC alone or the full setup, including a monitor, speakers, router and any other equipment needed for the stream. If you measure several devices together, the result covers them all.
- Measure at the wall. Use a plug-in electricity usage meter while the system is in the state you intend to use for streaming. A brief idle reading may miss workload changes, so measure over a representative period.
- Find average watts. If the meter reports kWh, divide the measured energy by the elapsed hours and multiply by 1,000. If it reports fluctuating watts, average the readings across the measurement period. The U.S. Department of Energy advises measuring over time when power consumption fluctuates, then dividing energy by the measurement period to determine average power: DOE measurement guidance.
- Calculate monthly kWh. Multiply average watts by 24 and by 30, then divide by 1,000. For a different billing period, use its actual number of days instead of 30.
- Estimate the bill impact. Multiply the resulting kWh by the marginal energy rate that applies to your household. Add any applicable variable duties or surcharges if you want a fuller estimate, and check for subsidies or time-of-day treatment.
Work out the cost using your Indian tariff
India does not have one household electricity rate that applies everywhere. The Central Electricity Authority’s tariff-and-duty publication is organized by state and utility; its 2025 compilation includes FY 2024–25 information. For a current estimate, use your latest bill or the current tariff order from your distribution utility, taking your consumer category and applicable slab into account: CEA tariff-and-duty information.
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For a simple estimate, multiply the added monthly kWh by the applicable marginal energy rate. A full bill impact may also involve variable duties or surcharges. Fixed charges generally do not rise in the same way as energy charges when you add kWh, so do not include them in a per-unit calculation unless your tariff requires it.
Check whether time-of-day rates apply
The Ministry of Power’s 23 June 2023 announcement described provisions under which solar-hour tariffs would be 10%–20% below the normal tariff and peak-hour tariffs 10%–20% higher. It also said time-of-day tariffs would apply to non-agricultural consumers by 1 April 2025 at the latest. That announcement does not establish which tariff applies to a particular home or how a local utility currently implements it. Check your bill or the current utility order: Ministry of Power press releases.
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Why published computer energy figures are not a 24/7 stream estimate
The U.S. Department of Energy publishes annual purchasing comparisons based on ENERGY STAR Qualified Products List values as of December 2024 and market data. For desktop examples in the integrated or switchable-graphics category, it gives 12 kWh/year for a best-available product, 52 kWh/year for an ENERGY STAR product and 208 kWh/year for a less-efficient product. Its notebook examples are 3, 15 and 41 kWh/year, respectively. These figures compare product efficiency; they do not measure a particular computer continuously running an ambient stream, and they are not India-specific: DOE computer purchasing guidance.
Similarly, the DOE’s 2024 data-basis comparison gives 52 kWh/year for a qualifying 27-inch 1080p monitor and 72 kWh/year for a less-efficient comparison. Its associated cost example uses a U.S. federal-facility electricity price, not an Indian residential tariff: DOE display purchasing guidance. Do not combine these annual purchasing comparisons with the continuous-use scenarios above as if they represented the same workload or duty cycle.
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Reduce the estimate’s uncertainty
- Measure during a representative stream session, rather than relying on a short idle reading.
- Keep track of whether the display and peripherals are included, and compare setups only when those measurement conditions match.
- Use the tariff rate that applies to your household’s category, slab and billing conditions; confirm whether time-of-day rates or variable charges affect the estimate.
- Repeat the measurement if the streaming workload, display state or power settings change materially.
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