How much does a computer monitor cost to run?

Figures on this page are calculated from typical appliance wattages and the price per kWh you enter, not looked up from a bill. See how we calculate this.

What a computer monitor costs to run: typical 30 W, about $10 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.

Wattage and running cost

Based on 5 h a day at $0.18/kWh, the US average. Change the hours and the price in the calculator above.

A computer monitor is a modest but constant part of a home-office bill, since it is on for as long as you work. Power draw depends mainly on screen size and brightness: a small office monitor might use 15 to 25 watts, a 24-inch around 30, a 27-inch closer to 45, and a large or high-brightness display can pass 60. Like a television, the backlight is the biggest single factor, so brightness settings have a real effect on the running cost.

Because a monitor runs alongside a computer for hours a day, small savings repeat often enough to matter. Lowering brightness from the shop-default maximum to a comfortable level cuts power with no downside indoors, and letting the monitor sleep when you step away removes the draw entirely during breaks. Enter your monitor's wattage — check the label or specification — and your typical daily hours to see the yearly cost, and pair it with the desktop PC or laptop figure for your full workstation.

If you run a multi-monitor setup, remember that each screen adds its own draw, so a second or third display multiplies this figure. For a full workstation, add the monitor cost to your computer cost to see the true total — the screen is easy to overlook, yet it is on for exactly as many hours as the machine driving it.

Panel type changes this more than most people expect. A backlit LED/LCD monitor draws roughly the same power regardless of what's on screen, since the backlight stays lit either way. An OLED display lights each pixel individually, so it draws noticeably less on darker content and more on bright white pages — meaning the same OLED monitor's real running cost depends partly on what you use it for, not just its rated wattage.

A monitor's draw follows its panel: size, backlight and how bright you keep it. A 24-inch IPS screen sits around 30 W, a 27-inch closer to 45 W, and a large high-brightness or HDR panel can pass 60 W. None of that is much on its own, but a monitor is one of the few things in a house that people genuinely do leave switched on for eight or ten hours a day, and a second one doubles it. The difference between a screen that sleeps when you walk away and one that does not is larger than the difference between two models.

What a computer monitor costs in other countries

The figures above assume $0.18/kWh, the US average. A computer monitor does not change when it crosses a border — the price of the electricity it drinks does. Here is what its 55 kWh a year cost in the 14 countries with a page here, dearest first.

Each figure is in that country's own currency at its average all-taxes-included price; the dollar column is there so they can be set against each other. Ireland to Canada is a factor of 3.8 — same appliance, same hours, 3.8 times the bill. Follow a country for its real retailer tariffs and what makes up that price, or see the full electricity price comparison by country.

How to cut computer monitor running costs

• Lower the brightness from the factory maximum — the backlight is the main power user.
• Set the monitor to sleep after a few minutes idle so breaks cost nothing.
• Switch it off at the end of the day rather than leaving it in standby overnight.
• Dark mode and a lower brightness together noticeably cut an OLED screen's draw.
• One efficient monitor beats two power-hungry ones if you don't need the extra screen.

Frequently asked questions