Leaving a mini PC, home server or trading bot running around the clock? This calculator shows what that costs in electricity per day, month and year, and how long a mini PC takes to pay for itself compared with renting a VPS.
24/7 Power Cost Calculator
How much does it cost to leave a mini PC or home server running all day? Enter the power draw and your electricity rate.
Per day–
Per month (30 days)–
Per year (365 days)–
Compare with a VPS
Enter the mini PC price and a VPS monthly fee to see how long it takes to break even.
Formula: power (W) × hours ÷ 1000 × rate. Actual costs vary with your plan, season and load.
How to use it
- Power draw: the average watts your device uses. A plug-in power meter between the outlet and the device gives the most accurate figure.
- Hours per day: leave it at 24 for always-on machines.
- Electricity rate: the price per kWh shown on your electricity bill. The default is only a starting point; rates vary widely by country, provider and plan.
The formula
Cost = power (W) × hours ÷ 1000 × rate per kWh. For example, a 10 W mini PC running 24 hours a day uses 0.24 kWh per day, or 7.2 kWh in 30 days. At 0.17 per kWh, that is about 1.22 per month.
Tips to keep running costs low
- Low-power mini PCs (Intel N100/N150 class) often idle at around 6-10 W.
- Measure everything that stays plugged in, such as external drives and monitors, not just the PC.
- If a job only needs to run at night, schedule it instead of keeping the machine busy all day.
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