Wi-Fi router Electricity Cost & Wattage
What a Wi-Fi router costs to run: typical 10 W, about $15 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.
Your Wi-Fi router running cost
Costs about
/ month
- Per day
- Per year
- Energy per year
Always on, based on a ~100% duty cycle.
Typical wattage
| Low | 5 W |
|---|---|
| Typical | 10 W |
| High | 18 W |
| Typical use | Runs continuously |
A Wi-Fi router is a small appliance with an outsized presence on the bill, not because it uses much power at any moment, but because it is one of the very few things in a home that genuinely never switches off. Most routers draw somewhere between 5 and 18 watts continuously, all day and all night, all year. This page treats it as an always-on device, so the yearly figure captures the reality that a router runs 8,760 hours a year whether anyone is using the internet or not.
Individually the cost is small — a typical 10 W router costs only a handful of dollars a year — but it is a useful example of how constant low-power devices work. The same watt drawn continuously for a year uses far more energy than a high-power appliance used briefly, which is exactly why standby and always-on loads deserve attention across a whole home. A router, a mesh satellite or two, a modem and a network switch together can quietly add up.
There is not much to optimise on the router itself, and you generally would not want to — turning it off saves only pennies and breaks smart-home devices, security cameras and anyone working from home. The practical takeaway is comparative: if a 10 W router costs so little to run non-stop, it puts the cost of larger always-on appliances like fridges and freezers into perspective, and shows why switching off genuinely idle electronics matters more than unplugging the internet.
How to cut Wi-Fi router running costs
- Leave it on — the saving from switching a router off is tiny and breaks smart devices.
- Do turn off old routers, modems or switches you no longer use and forgot to unplug.
- Group genuinely idle electronics, not the router, on switched strips for real savings.
- Replacing several old separate boxes with one efficient modem-router can trim a few watts.
- Use the router's cost as a yardstick for other always-on devices around the home.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to leave a router on all year?
A 10 W router running non-stop uses about 88 kWh a year, roughly $15 at $0.17/kWh. Lower-power models cost less. It is small, but it runs every hour of the year.
Should I turn my router off at night to save money?
It rarely makes sense. The saving is a few dollars a year at most, and it disrupts updates, smart-home devices, cameras and anyone online late. Focus on genuinely idle electronics instead.
Why does such a low-power device matter at all?
Because it never switches off. It shows how a small constant draw becomes real energy over 8,760 hours, the same reason fridges and standby loads add up across a home.