How Much Electricity Does Alexa Use?
Amazon Echo (3rd Generation) Power Consumption
| Mode | Power Consumption (in Watts) |
| Off Mode* (Low Power Mode) | 0.134 |
| Networked Standby** (Automatic Sleep Mode, Microphones ON) | 1.81 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep Mode, Microphones OFF ) | 2.93 |
To enter “Off Mode” the user must simultaneously press and hold the action and double-tap the microphone OFF button on the top of the device. **Automatically enters “Networked Standby” after approximately 12 seconds of inactivity (no user interaction). : Amazon Echo (3rd Generation) Power Consumption
Does Alexa use a lot of electricity?
For instance, the report points out that smart speakers typically consume just a few watts while in standby mode and only slightly more when activated. In an average year, a second-gen Amazon Echo will consume about 15.2 kilowatt hours (kWh), which adds up to less than $2 for your annual energy bill.
What is the power consumption of an Amazon Echo?
Google Home – For each of the three devices, we looked at power draw in idle mode (plugged in but not active); listening mode (when a user says the trigger phrase—”Alexa” or “OK Google”—followed by a command); and music-playing mode at low and high volumes. The table below shows our results. I separately used the Kill A Watt power-measurement device to collect more-precise data on the power draw of my own Amazon Echo. Rather than rounding to the nearest watt, as the WeMo plug does, the Kill A Watt provides measurements down to a 10th of a watt.
- In addition to the modes listed above, I also observed power draw when the device was playing music at a medium volume, as well as in a joke-telling mode when Alexa is talking directly to the user.
- And I changed the style of music from bluegrass to a more bass-heavy genre to see what impact it might have on energy use, if any.
The table below shows the results. Overall, the power drawn by the Echo in idle mode was fairly consistent across the WeMo and Kill A Watt measurements, but listening-mode power draw varied. This makes sense because a given command is likely to affect how much processing power the device needs to complete it.
- The power drawn by the Echo when playing music was fairly uniform at lower volume levels, but seemed to vary by music style at high volumes, possibly due to the changing levels of bass in different styles of music.
- At a given volume level, the Echo also required a little more power to talk to the user than it did to play music.
Looking at all of the measurements across multiple devices, one of the most interesting results is that power draw doesn’t vary much between idle and active modes for any of the devices we evaluated. The only real exception seems to be when the volume is cranked up to maximum levels and devices are playing bass-heavy music.
With that in mind, if one were to assume an average power draw of 3 watts for the Amazon Echo, 3 watts for the Echo Dot (excluding the power drawn by any attached speakers), and 2 watts for the Google Home over the course of a given day, it’s possible to estimate an overall annual energy consumption of around 26 kilowatt-hours (kWh) for both Amazon Echo devices, and 18 kWh for the Google Home.
At an average national residential electricity price of 12.75 cents/kWh (per the US Energy Information Administration’s most recent estimates ), that comes out to a cost of just $3.32 per year for the Amazon Echo devices and $2.30 for the Google Home.
How many watts of electricity does an Echo Dot use?
Standby Energy Usage – 
Here’s a breakdown of how much electricity various Echo devices pull when they’re in standby (a.k.a. when they’re just sitting there not doing anything):
Echo Dot: 1.75 watts 1st-Gen Echo: 2.95 watts 2nd-Gen Echo: 1.95 watts Echo Plus: 2.4 watts Echo Spot: 1.9-2.25 watts (depending on screen brightness)
Of course, the wattage means nothing by itself, but it’s useful to know when calculating how much that wattage costs you on your electricity bill. Using this handy conversion tool, you can quickly find out the exact cost per day, per month, or even per year.
How much electricity do Echo devices use when they’re in standby?
Standby Energy Usage – Here’s a breakdown of how much electricity various Echo devices pull when they’re in standby (a.k.a. when they’re just sitting there not doing anything):
Echo Dot: 1.75 watts 1st-Gen Echo: 2.95 watts 2nd-Gen Echo: 1.95 watts Echo Plus: 2.4 watts Echo Spot: 1.9-2.25 watts (depending on screen brightness)
Of course, the wattage means nothing by itself, but it’s useful to know when calculating how much that wattage costs you on your electricity bill. Using this handy conversion tool, you can quickly find out the exact cost per day, per month, or even per year.
Does Alexa need electricity to work?
Alexa is the all-knowing AI personal assistant developed by Amazon that you can use with compatible smart speakers such as the Echo Dot and Echo Spot. She is the ultimate voiced powered assistant who can answer questions, set alarms, create shopping lists, find the latest Amazon deals, play music, tell jokes, and so much more.
A common question people often have, though, is whether you need to keep your Alexa device plugged in all the time, and that’s what we’ll be discussing in this article. Most Alexa devices require electricity to function, which means they ultimately need to stay plugged in at all times. Some Echo devices, such as the Echo Plus and specific generations of the Echo Dot, can run without mains electricity when connected to a compatible portable battery base.
Read on if you want to find out more about why most Alexa devices can’t function without mains power, what will happen if you unplug them and how much electricity they use.
How much electricity does the Amazon Echo Show 5 use?
How much electricity does the Echo Show 5 use when it’s idle? – I measured the Echo Show 5’s energy consumption in various states using a TP-Link smart plug. The Kasa app that comes with the plug allows you to measure the average consumption over the course of a week, so at the end of this week I’ll update this post with more information about long-term consumption.
| Idle with screen set to automatic brightness | 2.5-3.5W |
| Idle with screen set to maximum brightness | 3-3.5W |
| Idle with screen set to minimum brightness | 2-2.5W |
The good news here is the energy consumption is pretty light. Assuming the average is about 3 watts, the Sust-It Electricity Cost Calculator estimates that the Echo Show 5 will cost you around 1.25p per day on standby (using the UK average electricity price for December 2018).
- It’s worth noting that if you fiddle with the screen brightness settings, it uses around a third less electricity if you keep the screen at minimum brightness compared to maximum glare.
- But when you’re talking about a saving of no more than a quid per year, the benefit of leaving the screen dimmed is debatable.
(I will talk more about managing screen brightness later in the week.) But what happens when we actually start using the device?
How many watts of electricity does an Echo Dot use?
Standby Energy Usage – Here’s a breakdown of how much electricity various Echo devices pull when they’re in standby (a.k.a. when they’re just sitting there not doing anything):
Echo Dot: 1.75 watts 1st-Gen Echo: 2.95 watts 2nd-Gen Echo: 1.95 watts Echo Plus: 2.4 watts Echo Spot: 1.9-2.25 watts (depending on screen brightness)
Of course, the wattage means nothing by itself, but it’s useful to know when calculating how much that wattage costs you on your electricity bill. Using this handy conversion tool, you can quickly find out the exact cost per day, per month, or even per year.