How much electricity does your phone really use?

Have you ever wondered how much electricity does your phone really use? You might be surprised. 

Which one uses more electricity: the phone in your pocket, or the refrigerator in your kitchen? 

 

As hard as it might be to believe, the answer is your phone. According to the calculations done by Mark Mills, a medium sized fridge uses about 322 kW-h a year. The average phone uses about 361 kW-h.

 

But you might be thinking, how can my phone use more electricity than fridge. And you are right. An average energy used only for charging your phone is about 2 kW-h a year. So where is the other electricity used?

If we want to calculate how much electricity phones are using, we also have to look at other things phones are connected to like data centers, using wi-fi and mobile data. 

Especially data centers use a lot of electricity.  One data center can use enough electricity to power 180,000 homes.

One data center can use enough electricity to power 180, 000 homes.

In the following years data usage is expected to increase significantly, especially with new technologies like 5G. The energy usage of our phones and other devices will also only increase in the future. This is why we should look towards using more renewable energy sources instead of using fossil fuels, to protect our planet. 

 

Shopping Cart