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Estimate the electricity cost from the Raspberry Pi 5 setup’s average power draw at the wall—not from the power supply’s rating. For continuous operation over a 30-day month, every average watt uses 0.72 kWh. Multiply that energy by your local electricity rate to get the energy cost.

Calculate the monthly electricity cost

Use this formula:

Monthly energy cost = average watts ÷ 1,000 × hours streamed × price per kWh

A 30-day month has 720 hours. The examples below are arithmetic scenarios, not measurements of a Raspberry Pi 5 running a particular FFmpeg command. Replace the example draw with your measured average and the example energy use with your own tariff to estimate the cost in your currency.

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Average wall draw Energy in a 30-day month Energy in a 365-day year Cost calculation
5 W 3.6 kWh 43.8 kWh Monthly: 3.6 × your price per kWh
10 W 7.2 kWh 87.6 kWh Monthly: 7.2 × your price per kWh

For a different draw, multiply watts by operating hours, then divide by 1,000 to convert watt-hours to kilowatt-hours. Multiply the resulting kWh by the marginal energy rate on your bill. Fixed charges, taxes and any network-plan charges are separate. Your location and tariff determine the monetary estimate; there is no universal current electricity price.

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Measure the Pi 5 setup while it is streaming

The most useful input is the average wall draw of the complete setup running your actual stream. A plug-in energy monitor can measure it over a representative period; a longer measurement is preferable if encoding load or fan activity varies.

  1. Connect the complete streaming setup to a plug-in energy monitor, including the Pi, power supply, fan, storage and attached devices.
  2. Run the actual FFmpeg stream for a representative period. Include typical encoding activity and any periods when cooling or other peripherals operate.
  3. Use the monitor’s average watts, or divide its measured energy in kWh by the measurement period in hours and multiply by 1,000 to calculate average watts.
  4. For a monthly estimate, multiply average watts by 720 hours and divide by 1,000. Multiply that kWh figure by your electricity bill’s marginal price per kWh.

Raspberry Pi’s current hardware documentation gives 800 mA as typical bare-board active current consumption and notes that power varies with connected peripherals. That bare-board reference is not a measurement of the complete streaming setup. Raspberry Pi’s 2023 launch article says peak consumption can reach around 12 W under the most intensive, pathological workloads; that is an extreme peak, not an expected average for an FFmpeg stream. Raspberry Pi hardware documentation; Raspberry Pi 5 launch article.

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Why the 27 W power supply rating is not the electricity estimate

Raspberry Pi recommends a 27 W USB-C power supply for Raspberry Pi 5. That rating describes the supply’s capacity, not how much power the Pi continuously draws. Do not use 27 W as the average in the cost formula unless a wall measurement of your complete setup actually shows that average.

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The hardware documentation also says a 3 A supply limits downstream USB current to 600 mA. Power needs depend on attached peripherals, so include devices such as USB storage and cooling in your wall measurement rather than treating the bare board as the whole system. Raspberry Pi hardware documentation.

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Include internet costs separately

Resolution, frame rate and bitrate affect the upload capacity your stream needs and the volume of data transferred; they do not directly determine the electricity cost. YouTube’s current encoder guidance recommends RTMP or RTMPS, constant-bitrate encoding and a two-second keyframe interval. For video, it gives these bitrate ranges:

Video setting YouTube-recommended bitrate range
720p at 30 fps 2–6 Mbps
1080p at 30 fps 4–10 Mbps

These are encoder guidance values, not a guarantee that a particular connection can sustain a stream. Check your measured upload capacity and ISP terms; data-cap overages or other network charges depend on your plan. YouTube Live encoder settings.

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Keep a 24/7 stream running without a home computer

If you want the uploaded video to keep looping on YouTube without leaving a Raspberry Pi, computer or home connection running, StreamNeo is a cloud option. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once and go live; StreamNeo loops the uploaded video from the cloud and can automatically recover if YouTube drops the stream.

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  • Nothing has to stay on at home.
  • One flat price per slot for any uploaded quality up to 4K 60fps, with no re-encode or quality tiers.
  • Automatic recovery if YouTube drops the stream.
  • The first day is free, with no card required; the free day is one per account.
  • Monthly service: $9.99 per month.

Each slot includes one always-on stream, 10 GB of storage pooled across active slots, 24/7 looping and playlists, and support from the StreamNeo team. The same product is on every plan; only the billing period changes. Billing options include a day, a week, a month, six months or a year, with cancellation any time. UPI and cards are available in India; card checkout is available worldwide. Contact support for five or more slots.

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Common cost-estimate mistakes

  • Using the supply rating as the draw: the recommended 27 W supply is capacity, not a measurement of continuous use.
  • Treating a peak as an average: the around-12 W figure is for intensive, pathological workloads, not a measured 24/7 FFmpeg average.
  • Estimating from bare-board figures: connected storage, cooling and other peripherals change total wall consumption.
  • Assuming a universal bill amount: energy prices and billing rules vary by location; use your own marginal rate.
  • Leaving out internet charges: check the ISP plan for data caps or overage charges separately from electricity.

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