Getting yourself a great speaker is a game-changer. It changes the way you listen to a song, unlocking new subtitles in the melody. Even the enjoyment of your favorite podcast increases with crisp and clear audio.
You can now get speakers in all shapes and sizes from mini-pocket pills to large countertop Bluetooth whales. As you can imagine, the power consumption can vary a great deal.
But don’t worry.
Below we will discuss and test speaker wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Speaker?
The average home speaker uses between 15 to 30 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your speaker. For example, a small portable unit can be less than 15W, while larger boomboxes can exceed 30W.
The power of a speaker can vary dramatically. It comes down to the size or volume of your equipment. While 30W is a great size for most homes, you will also find high end speakers at well over 100W.
So it’s important to know the specification of your own audio devices. This helps you to understand the performance and power consumption.
How to Find Out Your Speaker Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a speaker.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the speaker’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 speaker to get instant information.
I used one to test my speaker which gave a live reading of 17W.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your speaker you can use this to find the maximum power rating. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Speaker Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a speaker draws. Below is a collection of modern speakers with their listed power.
| Speaker Model | Speaker Watts |
| LG XBOOM Go PL7 Bluetooth Portable Speaker | 30 |
| Oontz Bluetooth Speaker | 10 |
| JBL Boombox | 40 |
| Tamproad Bluetooth Speakers | 10 |
| JBL Flip 4 | 16 |
| EDUPLINK Portable Bluetooth Speaker | 40 |
| JBL GO2 | 3 |
| Marshall Woburn II Bluetooth Speaker | 110 |
| Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Speaker | 130 |
| Wonderboom | 9 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different speakers. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Speaker Use?
You can use speaker wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your speaker.
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 speaker drawing 40W would use 40Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 40W speaker running for 1 hour uses 0.04kWh.
In reality, you might use a speaker for 2 hours a day. This means a home speaker uses about 80Wh or 0.08kWh electricity a day. That’s 2.4kWh a month and 29.2kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $4.30 a year to listen to music for 2 hours a day on a speaker drawing 40 watts.
Using a Speaker Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your speaker in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, boat, truck, or similar, the information above is important. It enables you to pick the correct power products and know how long everything can run.
The best tip here is to use a battery powered and rechargeable Bluetooth speaker. There are so many great options on the market now. Plus you can be sure it’s not using your energy supply unless plugged in to charge up!
If you want to use an AC powered speaker 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 speaker. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. To listen to music or charge a speaker, you will need at least 50W of power capacity.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the speaker for the required amount of time. As we already know, it might use about 40Wh of electricity for each hour it’s drawing power. This is the equivalent to 3.3Ah on a 12V battery.
How Many Watts Does a Speaker Use Summary
I hope you now have a better understanding of how many watts a speaker uses.
In simple terms, it all comes down to the size and output. The larger and more powerful the speaker, the higher the wattage. Don’t be fooled, bigger is not always better. There’s no need to get the most powerful speaker for your home. You can find high quality options in the 15 to 30W range that won’t distort your audio, blow your ears off, or smash your electricity usage. Plus a battery powered option allows you to take it on your adventures.
