How much energy does a computer uses?

Question

My mom claims it uses soooo much, she says it would be better if I just watch tv than be on the computer.

Answer 1

You're much better off using a computer than watching the idiot box regardless of power consumption (and in most places the power used by a computer is cheap enough not to worry too much about).

That said it really depends on what type of computer it is, average desktop computers might use a few hundred watts normally (with higher usage when under load) with laptops using a lot less (most laptop adapters are rated in the 60 - 90 W range although they can use a lot less with all the power saving features enabled and only draw the maximum when they are charging or being worked hard).

High end gaming systems and the like can draw many hundreds of Watts and larger computers can reach into the Megawatt range (although you probably don't have a mainframe or a supercomputer).

Answer 2

The typical PC uses about 300 watts, while the LCD uses about 50-100 itself. So in total about 400 watts for an average PC. So thats about the equivalent of leaving 26 of those fluorescent type light bulbs on all at once.

Laptops on the other hand are more efficient, using only about 10-75 watts.

Answer 3

Only solar, if you have it done to be green and that is what most of us are here for right?