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There is no single reliable cost figure for running a 24/7 YouTube stream from a Synology NAS: the electricity bill depends on the NAS’s average wall-power draw while streaming and your local electricity tariff. Measure the NAS during a representative stream, then calculate: average watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = kilowatt-hours (kWh); multiply the kWh by your price per kWh to get the cost.
Calculate the electricity cost
Use the average power draw of the entire NAS setup while it is doing the job—not the rated draw of an individual component or a Docker container. Include the NAS and its installed drives, and measure over a representative period of streaming. A plug-in electricity monitor can help measure wall draw; it cannot predict the bill without your tariff.
- Measure or obtain the average wall draw in watts during the stream.
- Choose the period to estimate and calculate its energy use using the table below.
- Multiply the resulting kWh by your electricity price per kWh.
| Period | Energy calculation | Energy per average watt |
|---|---|---|
| One day | Average watts × 24 ÷ 1,000 | 0.024 kWh |
| 30-day month | Average watts × 24 × 30 ÷ 1,000 | 0.72 kWh |
| 365-day year | Average watts × 24 × 365 ÷ 1,000 | 8.76 kWh |
For example, if your measured average is W watts and your tariff is R per kWh, the 30-day energy cost is 0.72 × W × R. Substitute your own measured watts and tariff; neither is specified by the topic, so a personalized bill cannot be stated here. These are unit conversions, not a benchmark or a prediction of a particular NAS’s draw.
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Synology’s DS923+ product page lists 35.51 watts (Access) and 11.52 watts (HDD Hibernation) as model-specific power-consumption figures. They are useful context, not measurements of that NAS encoding and streaming a particular video, and they do not represent every Synology model. Synology cautions that performance specifications can vary with configuration, deployment, and active operations.
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- Supports drives on the model's official compatibility list
- Up to 522/565 MB/s sequential read/write throughput supports stable data transfers.
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- Backed by Synology's 3-year limited hardware warranty.
As energy-only reference points, those figures would correspond to about 0.852 kWh and 0.276 kWh per day, respectively, if sustained for 24 hours. That conversion does not mean either condition matches a 24/7 FFmpeg workload, nor does it supply a cost: apply your own tariff only after measuring your setup under its actual workload.
Why Docker and FFmpeg change the measurement
Docker does not provide a separate electricity-cost figure. The quantity that matters is the NAS system’s wall draw while the container is running the stream. FFmpeg’s CPU demand can change with the input video, resolution, frame rate, filters, and encoding settings. Whether hardware encoding is available also depends on the NAS, the container’s FFmpeg build, and device access. No specific Synology model or workload is identified here, so there is no substantiated benchmark to use in place of measurement.
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Synology’s DS923+ specifications, last updated July 7, 2025, list an AMD Ryzen R1600, two CPU cores, and 4 GB of preinstalled RAM. Those are specifications for that model, not a basis for assuming the capabilities or power use of another NAS. SynoCommunity’s guidance describes granting access to a video device file per application, including service-user or videodriver group permissions; that community packaging guidance is not a guarantee that hardware encoding works on every NAS or container.
Keep the 24/7 runtime and YouTube archive separate
For a continuous stream, use 24 hours per day and 365 days per year in the energy calculation. Streaming continuously does not mean YouTube will automatically archive the entire event as one recording: YouTube Help says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived. Do not assume a single 24-hour stream will be automatically archived as one video.
Rank #3
- Secure private cloud - Safely access and share files and media from anywhere, and keep friends, partners, or collaborators on the same page
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- File Server - Replace expensive SharePoint or Dropbox with local file sharing, team folders and permission contro
- Ransomware-Resistant Backup - Protect against malware with immutable snapshots, versioned files and multi-destination backup strategies
What to check if your estimate seems wrong
- The estimate is much lower than the bill: verify that you used the full wall draw during streaming, the right tariff and billing period, and the correct unit price per kWh.
- Your measured draw differs from Synology’s figure: the listed DS923+ values describe specified conditions, not necessarily your drive population and active FFmpeg workload. Use your own representative wall measurement.
- Power varies during the stream: measure long enough to capture the normal mix of video processing and activity. A short idle reading may not represent a continuous workload.
- Hardware encoding does not seem to be used: check whether the NAS and FFmpeg build support it and whether the container has the required device access. The available information does not establish compatibility for an unspecified setup.
Or let it run in the cloud
If you would rather not keep a NAS and home connection running for a pre-recorded YouTube stream, StreamNeo runs the uploaded video from the cloud. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live. Nothing has to stay on at home; the video streams as uploaded up to 4K 60fps at one price per slot, with automatic recovery if YouTube drops the stream. The first day is free with no card. Monthly pricing is $9.99 per month. StreamNeo is for YouTube and uploaded videos, not camera broadcasts. Learn more at StreamNeo, or start the free day.
Quick Recap
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Rank #4
- Powerful performance: Equipped with an AMD Ryzen V1500B quad-core processor and 4 GB DDR4 ECC memory, expandable up to 32 GB.
- Flexible storage options: Four hot-swappable 2.5"/3.5" drive bays and expansion support for up to nine drives with a DX525 unit.
- High-speed connectivity: Dual 2.5 GbE LAN ports, two M.2 NVMe slots for cache or storage pools, and two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports.
- Versatile business applications: Ideal for data storage, virtualization, backup, and video surveillance in small to medium-sized business environments.
- Successor to the DS923+: Now compatible with third-party hard drives since DSM 7.3.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
