There’s nothing better than jumping onto the couch to watch a Sunday afternoon movie. Fire up the DVD player and HD TV (and surround sound if you’re lucky), then hit play on an all time classic. Personally, I crack out Shawshank Redemption multiple times a year. It’s a pretty long movie as many classics tend to be. This got me wondering about the power consumption, plus if I could watch these movies while traveling in an RV.
Below we will discuss and test DVD player wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a DVD Player?
The average DVD player uses between 5 to 15 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your DVD player. For example, a simple plug and play device uses around 5W while a larger Blu Ray 4k player runs at over 12W.
The difference in power comes down to the functionality and resolution of your equipment. The higher the resolution, like 4K or 3D, the more power it consumes. You will also see modern DVD players with features like WiFi to further increase this number.
In addition, a DVD player uses 0.5W when left on standby.
How to Find Out Your DVD Player Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a DVD player.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the DVD player’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 DVD player to get instant information.
I used one to test my DVD Blueray player which gave a live reading of 17.7W which is higher than average!
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your DVD player you can use this to find the maximum running watts. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
DVD Player Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a DVD player draws. Below is a collection of modern DVD players with their listed power ratings.
| DVD Player Model | Power Rating (Watts) |
| Sony Smart Blu-Ray/DVD Player | 8.5 |
| Sony Smart 3D 4K Blu-Ray/DVD Player | 15 |
| Sony Blu-Ray/DVD With Wi-Fi | 9.2 |
| Panasonic 3D 4K UHD Blu-Ray/DVD | 12 |
| Panasonic DVD Player & Freeview+ | 20 |
| Bush DVD Player | 12 |
| LG Smart Blu-ray and DVD Player | 12 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different DVD players. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a DVD Player Use?
You can use DVD player wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your DVD player.
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 DVD player drawing 15W would use 15Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 15W DVD player running for 1 hour uses 0.015kWh.
In reality, you might use a DVD player for 5 hours a week. This means a BlueRay DVD player uses about 75Wh or 0.075kWh electricity a week. That’s 0.33kWh a month and 4kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $0.60 a year to watch your DVD player for 5 hours each week. Pretty great entertainment value!
Using a DVD Player Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your DVD player in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, boat, or semi-truck, the information above is important. It enables you to select the correct power products and know how long you can run them for.
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 DVD player. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. To watch a movie, you will need at least 150W of power capacity. Don’t forget you’ll also need to power a TV which can use 50 to 100W
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the DVD player for the required amount of time. As we already know, it could use about 15Wh electricity per hour. This is the equivalent to 1.25Ah on a 12V battery.
How Many Watts Does a DVD Player Use Summary
I hope you now clearly understand how many watts a DVD player uses.
The good news is that these are very low powered devices. Watching your favorite movies is not going to make a noticeable difference on your electricity consumption. You can relax and enjoy it for hours on end. This makes DVD players very popular when living off-grid. It’s not going to deplete your battery, plus there is no need for WiFi or external signals.
