How Much Power Does a Projector Consume?

October 13, 2020

Have you ever wondered what is the power consumption of your projector? Do you want to know the monthly power consumption cost of a projector? If so, then this article is just about right for you. We are going to look at how to measure the power consumption of your projector, as well as to know what to do if you can’t get a good reading. We will also explain that how you can get a manual reading of your projector’s consumption.

Projector Power Consumption

Projectors are known to vary wildly when it comes to their power consumption, they tend to range from 50W for the smallest projectors, up to 150-800 watts for the much larger ones. Brightness is one of the settings that heavily dictates how much a projector will consume, as it’s a very demanding feature when it comes to electricity usage.

If you are looking to measure your projector’s power consumption, you should leave the brightness setting set in accordance with your preferences, in this way your reading will not fluctuate as much as if you were tinkering with the setting constantly.

Units of measurement

When it comes to measuring your projector’s power output, there is a standard unit of measurement called a watt (e.g. W). Watts are used for quantifying the rate of energy transmission of most consumer-grade electronic products. Electricity companies use the Kilo-Watt unit of measurement (e.g kW). Kilo-Watts are used because they signify a much larger energy transfer rate - there are 1000W in 1Kw.

Power consumption over time

Another important aspect of measuring your projectors power usage is the consumption rate over time. What this means is the amount of power that the device uses over a determined period of time - the time is usually 1 hour. Consumer goods like projectors measure their power consumption over time using Watts. If you see a label on your projector that says its consumption rate is 150W, it means that the projector is using 150W per hour of operation.

Utility company meters

Electric and utility companies measure the overall power consumption rate of your home, office, or apartment using a meter. These devices can be both analog or digital, and they are used by these provider companies to measure the overall amount of energy you have consumed per month. Utility meters are almost always labeled in Kilo-Watt-Hour’s (e.g. kWh). It’s important to understand where your meter is and how to count it if you are planning on measuring your projector’s power consumption manually.

Best Way to Measure the Power Consumption of Your Projector

Thankfully, in order to find your projector’s power consumption, all you need are a few easy-to-find numbers and some very basic math.

1) Find the wattage of your projector

The first step is to find out the number of watts your projector uses in order to operate. Almost all modern projectors and consumer electronics will have a label attached to them - you’ll be able to find the wattage of your projector here. Another way to find the rate of power usage of your projector is to do a quick internet search. We recommend looking at the manufacturer or seller’s webpage in order to see the specifications of the device.

Remember that the number of watts that appear on the label is measured as watts per hour, this means that if you see a 50W label, your projector will use 50 watts per hour during normal operation.

2) Calculate your watt-hours per day

In order to calculate the number of watts your projector uses every day, you can follow a very simple equation. (Device power consumption in watts) x (Hours used per day) = watt-hours per day. The device power consumption is the number you found on your device’s label, and hours used is the number of hours you use your projector per day.

As an example, we will take a look at a 150W projector that is used 2 hours per day: (150) X (2) = 300. As you can see, the equation is very simple and it gives us an accurate insight into the power usage of our projector per day. In this case, the 150W projector used for 2 hours will use 300W per day.

3) Convert your watts to kilowatts

Utility companies will charge you in kilo-watt-hours (i.e. kWh) instead of in watt-hours. This means that in order to get a precise picture of how much power your projector is using each month, you’ll need to convert watts to kilowatts. This is a very easy operation, there are 1000 watts in 1 kilowatt. The operation goes as follows: (Device consumption in Wh) / (1000) = (Device consumption in kWh).

As an example, we will use the 150W projector from before. (150W) / (1000) = (0.15 kWh). Once you have your projector consumption in kilo-watt-hours you are ready to move to the next step.

4) Look at your electricity bill

In order to get an economic idea of your power consumption, you’ll need to know the rate per kilo-watt that your utility company charges. With most companies, this can be found on your monthly electricity bill. If you can’t find the rate when looking at your electric bill, you can call them and ask about it.

As an example, let’s say our electric company charges $0.50 per kilo-watt-hour. All we have to do to find out the rate of consumption of our projector in economic terms is to multiply the rate per kilowatt by the total amount of KW we use per day/month.

5) Calculate your projector’s monthly power consumption

Calculating your monthly consumption is just as easy as the daily one. The operation goes as follows: (Daily consumption in kWh) x (Days in 1 month) = (Monthly usage estimate). With our example projector, we got: (0.15) x (30) = (4.5). This means our projector uses 4.5 kWh per month.

If you want to find out how much it costs: (Monthly usage estimate) x (Utility company per 1 kWh rate) = (Approximate cost of consumption). With our 0.15 kWh projector, we got the following results: (4.5) x (0.50) = (2.25). This means that our cost of monthly consumption if we are using the projector 2 hours per day - every day, would be around $2.25 at a rate of $0.50 per kilo-watt-hour.

What to Do if You Can’t Figure out Your Projector’s Power?

1) Contact customer support

If you are having problems acquiring accurate readings of your projector’s power consumption, you can always contact customer support. Most sellers and manufacturers of projectors have professional customer support services that would be more than happy to help you with any problem you might have. Make sure to keep your warranty in check before calling them.

2) Purchase a watt measuring device

Another great way to find out your projector’s power consumption is by purchasing a watt measuring device. These are usually small devices that are plugged into a wall socket. To use it, simply plug your projector’s electrical output into the watt measuring device and then pay attention to the readings it will give you. The readings will be labeled in watts.

Calculate Your Kilowatt-Hour Consumption Manually

If you find yourself in a situation where you have no access to electricity prices and projector consumption, we’ve got you covered. You can get a pretty accurate reading of your projector’s consumption by counting the utility meter manually. We have made a small list of some steps to follow in order to do it properly.

1) Turn off and unplug

It’s very important for you to follow this step in order to get accurate readings. The first thing to do is to turn off every electrical device in your home except the projector. You also need to unplug any electrical plugs from their sockets, as this will also be picked up by the utility meter. Once you have turned off and unplugged everything, you are ready to the next step.

2) Get an initial measurement from your utility meter

Now head over to your utility meter and write down the baseline (i.e starting point) reading you get. This reading is essential because it will allow you to determine the overall consumption of your projector. If you don’t have access to your utility meter, you can’t determine the consumption rate of your projector manually.

3) Let the test run for 1 hour

Since utility meters count your electric consumption using Kilowatt per hour, you should set your device to run for at least 1 hour. Don’t worry too much if you leave the test running for a few hours - you can always figure out the consumption rate of your projector per hour by dividing the total consumption rate after the test by the number of hours.

4) Count your usage manually

Now for the funny part, you need to get out a calculator and perform some basic math. Recover the new reading from the utility meter and compare it to the baseline reading you had written down. All you have to do is subtract the test reading with your baseline reading. The resulting number will be an approximate estimation of your projector’s hourly consumption. Remember to convert Kilowatts to Watts so you get a more standardized consumption number.

Conclusion

Now that you have all the necessary tools to measure the power consumption of your projector, you can figure out exactly how much you need to spend. Remember that not all projectors are equal, and some might need more power than others. If you can’t figure out what is the power of your projector, remember to contact customer support. You can also buy an accessory that measures watts on the internet, which is very handy if you want to find out your power consumption rates.

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