There is no reliable universal watt figure for software encoding a YouTube loop stream. The added electricity depends on the computer, encoder and preset, output settings, scene complexity, other running workloads, and what your meter includes. The most useful way to find your number is to compare average wall power under matched conditions.
What the available measurements can—and cannot—tell you
A 2015 study by Simon Fraser University researchers offers a bounded example, not a typical-stream estimate. On their tested system, the Heaven graphics benchmark alone drew about 158 W at the wall. Recording with OBS using x264 at 30 FPS raised whole-system draw by about 100 W, to around 250 W. The benchmark was running alongside OBS, so this does not establish the extra draw of an unattended loop video, a modern PC, or a YouTube stream specifically.
In the same experiment, the 60 FPS run drew slightly less total power than the 30 FPS run. CPU encoding interfered with the benchmark and reduced GPU use, illustrating why settings or utilization percentages alone cannot predict wall power. Measure the actual system and workload you care about.
A 2024 paper on HEVC software CPU encoding reports a 5.36% mean absolute percentage error averaged over presets in its model evaluation. That describes the model’s performance for the configurations studied; it is not an uncertainty range for estimating YouTube stream power or for an ordinary plug-in meter. A 2024 survey likewise identifies many contributors to video-streaming energy and notes the lack of a comprehensive open dataset spanning devices and coding parameters.
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What changes the added power
- Computer and baseline: A high baseline or different CPU and GPU can make the same encoding workload produce a different change in wall watts.
- Encoder and preset: OBS explains that x264 presets trade CPU use against image quality. Hardware encoding shifts work from the CPU to a specialized GPU component, but does not guarantee lower total system watts or identical quality.
- Output settings: Resolution and frame rate affect rendering and encoding workload. Compare the same settings rather than extrapolating between configurations.
- Scene and competing activity: Compositing a complex scene or running other CPU- or GPU-heavy applications changes the workload. A static loop and a graphics benchmark are not equivalent.
- Measurement boundary: A wall meter measures the equipment connected to it, not just the encoder chip. Decide whether the PC alone or the PC plus monitor and other peripherals are included, and keep that boundary consistent.
YouTube’s platform-side transcoding is separate from the creator’s computer power. YouTube accepts streams sent through software or a hardware encoder and transcodes live streams into formats for viewers, but its cited documentation does not publish an electricity figure per stream. Do not add an assumed YouTube data-center figure to your PC’s wall measurement.
How to measure your streaming PC’s added electricity
- Choose a measurement boundary. Use a plug-in energy meter or a suitable whole-system power measurement at the computer’s wall connection. Exclude the monitor and unrelated equipment if you want the computer’s draw; if they must be included, include them in every run.
- Set up a matched baseline. Use the same computer, loop file, scene, audio, output resolution, frame rate, bitrate, network setup, and background applications for both conditions. Record a baseline without the software-encoding stream.
- Run the software-encoding case. Start the stream with the intended encoder and preset. Let the reading stabilize, then record average watts over a representative interval rather than a momentary peak. Repeat the runs to reduce noise.
- Compare hardware encoding if available. Run a third matched case with a supported hardware encoder. Keep output settings and acceptable visual quality comparable; encoding methods can differ in image quality at the same bitrate.
- Calculate the increment and energy. Subtract the matched baseline average from the software-encoding average to get incremental watts. Then use
incremental watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = incremental kWhto estimate added energy over the stream duration. - Record the conditions. Report the machine, encoder and preset, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, duration, scene complexity, background activity, and measurement boundary alongside the result.
This is a practical measurement method based on whole-system wall-power measurement and OBS’s documented workload variables; it is not a published result for every YouTube loop stream.
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How to compare software and hardware encoding fairly
Compare x264 with an available hardware encoder using the same loop and, as closely as possible, the same output resolution, frame rate, bitrate, scene, audio, network conditions, and measurement period. Consider all of these outcomes together:
- Average whole-system wall watts, not just CPU or GPU utilization.
- Incremental kWh over the intended streaming duration.
- Image quality at the chosen bitrate.
- Whether the stream remains stable on the actual PC and network.
OBS generally recommends hardware encoding for performance because it moves work off the CPU to a specialized GPU component. OBS also cautions that some earlier hardware encoders could produce lower quality at the same bitrate than software x264 using its default veryfast preset. Treat hardware encoding as an alternative worth testing, not a guarantee of lower total power or a like-for-like picture.
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Or let it run in the cloud
If your goal is to keep a pre-recorded YouTube stream running without leaving a home computer on, StreamNeo runs the loop from the cloud. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key, and go live. The laptop or desktop at home does not need to stay on.
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