Smart homes are all the rage these days and for a good reason. We let our smart home devices be plugged in 24/7 because we want them ready to take voice commands every time.
However, you may not realize it, but even when your smart home devices sit idle, they still consume power. Each device consumes power while sitting silent, whether Amazon Echo, Google Nest, or Apple HomePod.
In this article, we’ll try to calculate the power consumption of these smart home devices and find out how much cost they’re adding to your electricity bill.
How Much Power Do Amazon Echo Devices Consume
Let’s start with Amazon Alexa because it is the world’s most popular smart home device…
So, based on the model, the Amazon Echo Dot consumes 3 to 5 watts of power in networked standby mode, but it’ll consume more electricity if you play any music.
Amazon Echo enters into networked standby mode after 12 seconds of inactivities. This is the most common mode where Alexa goes to sleep, but its microphone is ready to take voice commands anytime.
Amazon Echo Dot in Low Power Mode (aka Off Mode) consumes 0.125 to 0.26 watts of electricity, which is quite negligible. But, in this mode, your Alexa is not ready to take voice commands.
I have presented the power consumption of different generations of Echo devices in various modes. Please note the meaning of the following modes.
- Off Mode: This is the low-power mode in which the Echo device enters by pressing the action and microphone buttons together.
- Networked Standby Mode (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON): This is the most common mode in which an Echo device enters automatically after 6 seconds of inactivity and is always ready to take your voice commands.
- Network Standby Mode (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF): This is another common mode the Echo device runs. In this mode, the Echo device sleeps automatically, but we press the mute button manually.
Echo Dot (2nd generation power consumption)
The Echo Dot (2nd generation) is the least efficient smart speaker among all Amazon Echo devices.
When connected to a working Wi-Fi network, it consumes 2.23 watts of power in standby mode. However, manually turning off the microphone button slightly increases power consumption because of an additional LED light glow.
Here are the details of the Amazon Echo Dot (2nd generation power consumption) in tabulated format for quick understanding.
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.20 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 2.23 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 3.12 |
Generally, the device goes into automatic sleep mode with the microphone on after 5 to 6 seconds.
So, if I consider the ideal situation, your Echo consumes 2.23 watts X 24 hours daily.
This means 53.52 watt-hours of electricity will be consumed daily when your Echo device sits silently for 24 hours.
So, Alexa doesn’t contribute any significant amount to your electricity bill. If we calculate the monthly power consumption of 2nd generation Echo Dot in networked standby mode, it will be approximately 1.6 kWh.
Echo Dot (3rd generation power consumption)
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd generation) is more power efficient than 2nd generation. It consumes only 1.40 watts of electricity in standby mode.
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.16 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 1.40 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 2.04 |
Echo Dot (4th generation power consumption)
The fourth generation Echo Dot is slightly power-hungry compared to 2nd and 3rd generations. It consumes 3.65 watts in networked standby mode.
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.078 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 3.65 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 3.8 |
Echo Dot (5th generation power consumption)
The fifth generation Echo Dot with the clock is more efficient than all previous generation Alexa speakers. It consumes only 1.186 watts of electricity in standby mode.
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.0104 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 1.186 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 1.5 |
Echo Flex power consumption
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.114 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 1.44 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 1.74 |
Echo Studio’s power consumption
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.26 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 3.39 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 4.52 |
Echo Show 8 power consumption
| Mode | Power Consumption (Watt) |
|---|---|
| Off Mode (Low Power Mode) | 0.074 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone ON) | 1.41 |
| Networked Standby (Automatic Sleep & Microphone OFF) | 1.41 |
How Much Power Do Google Home Devices Consume
Google Home devices are also power-efficient. They consume a very small amount of power in standby mode. I have mentioned the power consumption of all Google Home devices below.
Google Home Mini power consumption
Google Home Mini is a popular smart assistant device among Android lovers. It consumes very minimal power of 1.4 watts in standby mode and 1.7 watts while listening to your voice commands.
Google Home Hub power consumption
Google Home Hub consumes approximately 1.9 watts of electricity in standby mode and 2.2 watts while listening to your voice commands. It adds approximately 15.3 kWh of power consumption annually to your electricity bill.
Google Home Max power consumption
Home Max is the most powerful device by Google. It has a large speaker that produces louder sound than its previous generation smart speakers.
Google Home Max consumes approximately 2.2 watts of power in standby mode and 3.2 watts when powered on. This won’t add more than 20 kWh yearly to your electricity bill.
How Much Power Does Apple HomePod Consume
Apple is not behind in the race for smart home speakers. Currently, they’re selling HomePod Mini and HomePod 2. But, instead of talking about specifications, we’ll focus on its power consumption.
Apple HomePod Mini power consumption
Apple HomePod Mini consumes 0.68 watts in low power mode and 1.40 watts during the music playback.
Apple HomePod 2 power consumption
The second-generation Apple HomePod consumes approximately 1.04 watts of electricity in low-power mode and 8.28 watts during the music playback.
How Much Electricity Does Alexa Use Per Hour
I already explained to you that the 4th generation Echo Dot consumes 3.65 watts of electricity in standby mode. However, its peak power consumption is approximately 10 watts while playing music at 100% volume.
Conclusion
So, the least efficient Amazon Alexa smart speaker consumes only 3.65 watts per hour of electricity in standby mode and a total of 31.5 kWh of power annually.
This will add up to approximately $7 to $10 to your annual electricity bill. The annual power consumption of other smart home speakers is also near $12 to $15 maximum.
