Modern PC monitors look like a piece out of a spaceship with curved screens, frameless design, and insane definition. Whether you’re an architect or a gamer, you can take your monitor for granted at times. But without it, your computer is completely useless. With such amazing performance, you are probably keen to know what sort of power consumption it uses.
Below we will discuss and test computer monitor wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Computer Monitor?
The average computer monitor uses between 20 to 50 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your computer monitor. For example, a small 19 inch monitor uses around 20W while a 4K gaming monitor in HDR mode runs at 50W. This is similar to a small to medium size TV.
As you can see, there can be quite a large difference between the lowest and highest power consumption of monitors. The reason for this is down to screen size and resolution. The larger the screen the higher the wattage. Plus power also increases as resolution increases. You will also notice another increase when you are using the High Dynamic Range (HDR) function.
A monitor will also use 0.5W to 1W when in standby mode.
How to Find Out Your Computer Monitor Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a computer monitor.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the computer monitor’s specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can simply plug it into your computer monitor to get instant information.
I used one to test my computer monitor which gave a live reading of 30.2W.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your computer monitor you can use this to find the running watts. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Computer Monitor Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a computer monitor draws. Below is a collection of modern computer monitors with their listed power ratings.
| Computer Monitor Model | Power Rating (Watts) |
| Sceptre 24″ Professional Thin 1080p | 24 |
| HP X32c (31.5″ ) FHD Curved Gaming Monitor | 25 (50 in HDR) |
| HP V24 (24″ ) FHD Monitor | 23.5 |
| Samsung 22″ Full HD, Height Adjustable Monitor | 12 |
| HUAWEI MateView GT 27 Inch | 30 |
| Acer Nitro 28 Inch UHD Gaming Monitor | 33 (49 in HDR) |
| Samsung Odyssey G3 27” Gaming Monitor | 19 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different computer monitors. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Computer Monitor Use?
You can use computer monitor wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your computer monitor.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a computer monitor drawing 30W would use 30Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 30W computer monitor running for 1 hour uses 0.03kWh.
In reality, you use a computer monitor for 6 hours each working day. This means a computer monitor uses about 180Wh or 0.18kWh electricity a day. That’s 4kWh a month and 48kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $0.02 a day or $7 a year to use your monitor for 6 hours each working day.
Using a Computer Monitor Off-Grid
If you want to use your computer monitor in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, or boat the information above is important. It allows you to choose the right power products and calculate the run time.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to produce AC electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your computer monitor. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. To run your computer monitor, you will need at least 75W of power capacity. This gives you enough power to comfortably power the monitor without overworking your equipment. If you want to run a computer too, you will need more like 500W.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the computer monitor for the required amount of time. As we already know, it will use about 30Wh electricity an hour. This is the equivalent to 2.5Ah on a 12V battery.
I hope you are now clear about how many watts a computer monitor uses.
As you have discovered, your computer monitor uses a similar amount of power to an HD TV. That’s no surprise as the devices are very similar. You don’t need a lot of electricity to get your visual equipment running, although if you want to use HDR mode then expect a step up in consumption. What’s amazing is that you can run your monitor during all working hours of the year for less than 10 bucks electricity cost.
