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There is no single cost: measure your PC’s average power draw at the wall, then multiply its energy use by your electricity rate. The formula is (watts ÷ 1,000) × hours × price per kWh. For continuous operation, use 24 hours per day or 8,760 hours in a 365-day year. A PC drawing 40 W around the clock would cost about $60.50 per year at the 2025 U.S. residential average electricity price of 17.30¢/kWh; your actual bill depends on your equipment, runtime, and local rate.
How to calculate the electricity cost
Watts measure power at a moment in time; kilowatt-hours (kWh) measure energy accumulated over time. Convert watts to kilowatts, multiply by operating hours, and multiply the resulting kWh by your electricity price.
Cost = (average watts ÷ 1,000) × hours running × electricity price per kWh
- Per day, continuously: watts ÷ 1,000 × 24 × your rate.
- Per average month: watts ÷ 1,000 × 730 × your rate. For a specific billing month, use 24 hours times the actual number of days.
- Per year, continuously: watts ÷ 1,000 × 8,760 × your rate.
- Overnight only: use the actual hours per night and number of nights, rather than assuming 24-hour operation.
Use the electricity price that applies to your household and, if possible, the marginal rate on your bill. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2025 average residential price was 17.30¢/kWh, based on preliminary 2025 data published in 2026. It is a comparison point, not a personal tariff. EIA notes that “Electricity prices vary by locality based on the availability of power plants and fuels, local fuel costs, and pricing regulations.” EIA: Prices and factors affecting prices; EIA: Electric Power Monthly.
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For context, EIA’s 2025 prices across customer types ranged from 8.20¢/kWh in North Dakota to 35.72¢/kWh in Hawaii. That is not a residential-only range, so do not treat either figure as the rate for a particular household.
Example costs for a 24/7 setup
The following are arithmetic scenarios, not measured or typical draws for a gaming PC looping YouTube. They use the 2025 U.S. residential average of 17.30¢/kWh; your result will differ if your measured draw or rate differs.
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| Average draw at the wall | Energy per 365-day year | Estimated annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| 20 W | 175.2 kWh | About $30.25 |
| 40 W | 350.4 kWh | About $60.62 |
| 80 W | 700.8 kWh | About $121.24 |
| 100 W | 876 kWh | About $151.55 |
At 17.30¢/kWh, each watt drawn continuously costs about $1.52 per year. The 20 W, 40 W, and 80 W figures are illustrative scenario values, not established typical readings for this workload. Cost examples are rounded, so minor differences may result from rounding and annualization conventions.
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Take a wall-side reading
A plug-in electricity usage monitor can measure the power passing through it. Measure the complete setup in the state you intend to run it: for example, with the video playing and the streaming software and other required devices operating. A GPU-only reading or a guessed wattage does not represent the full system’s draw. A power supply’s rated capacity is also not its ongoing consumption.
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For a useful average, observe the meter over a representative period of the actual workload, rather than relying on a brief peak or a single moment. Record the average watts, the hours you plan to run, and the rate from your bill; then enter those values in the formula above.
Decide what belongs in the measurement
A meter connected only to the PC excludes anything powered separately. If you want the cost of the whole channel setup, measure or add the energy used by an independently powered monitor and any other peripherals, accounting for how long each runs. If the monitor is switched off while the PC streams, do not charge it for the PC’s entire runtime.
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What changes the result
- Actual workload: a gaming PC can draw different amounts while gaming, encoding, playing a video, idling, or sleeping. There is no single reliable wattage for every YouTube-loop setup.
- Runtime: an overnight schedule costs less than running all day and night; calculate from the real hours and nights.
- Your rate: local electricity prices vary. A national average is useful for illustration, but your bill or utility tariff is the better input for a personal estimate.
- Included devices: a PC-only measurement excludes a separately powered display and other peripherals.
As dated context rather than a prediction for your channel, a 2019 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory modeled profile estimated 1,394 kWh per year for a gaming computer plus display, based on an average of 4.4 hours per day in gaming mode. It is neither an individual measurement nor a 24/7 video-loop workload, so it should not be used as the expected cost of your own setup. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report (2019).
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Keep the channel running without leaving a PC on
If your goal is a continuous YouTube loop, keeping a gaming PC powered is one way to do it, but its electricity cost is only one part of the setup. StreamNeo is a YouTube-only cloud service for uploaded videos: upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key, and go live. The cloud loops the video, so your computer and home connection do not have to stay on. Learn about StreamNeo.
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Each slot has one always-on stream, 10 GB of storage per slot pooled across active slots, looping and playlists, automatic recovery if YouTube drops the stream, and StreamNeo team support. Uploads stream as made, up to 4K 60fps, with no re-encode and one flat price per slot rather than quality tiers. The first day is free with no card; afterward, choose a day, week, month, six months, or year and cancel any time. UPI and cards are available in India; card checkout is available worldwide.
For Indian creators, UPI works. If you are comparing its subscription cost with your electricity estimate, use your own measured PC draw and local rate; the two costs cover different setups.
Quick Recap
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