United Kingdom Living room and office
How much does it cost to run a gaming PC?
A gaming PC draws 300 to 700 watts under load and 60 to 100 watts at idle. A 350 watt system played four hours a day is about 1 kWh a day plus the monitor, which is the same ballpark as a dishwasher load.
A 350 watt gaming PC costs about 6.4p an hour to run in Great Britain at 26.32 pence per kWh. Running it 4 hours a day cycling 70% of the time comes to about 26p a day, £7.85 a month and £94.21 a year.
- Price: Ofgem cap, Oct to Dec 2026
- Wattage range with its source
- Checked 26 October 2026
Uses 0.98 kWh a day, 30 kWh a month, at 26.32 pence per kWh (Great Britain (price cap average)).
The dial places the daily cost between a 50 watt fan and a 4.5 kW water heater on 2.5 hours a day.
A 350 watt gaming PC costs about 6.4p an hour to run in Great Britain at 26.32 pence per kWh. Running it 4 hours a day cycling 70% of the time comes to about 26p a day, £7.85 a month and £94.21 a year.
What this assumes
The default is a 350 watt gaming PC running 4 hours a day, drawing full power 70% of the time it is switched on (the rest of the time a thermostat or sensor has it idle). Published typical ratings run from 150 to 700 watts. Your label or manual gives the exact figure, and the calculator takes it.
The price is the Ofgem price cap unit rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026, average for England, Scotland and Wales, paying by Direct Debit. The cap for 1 January to 31 March 2027 is announced in late November 2026. A fixed tariff, a time-of-use plan or a different payment method changes the rate, which is why the rate field is editable.
Cost by wattage and hours at the price cap rate
At 26.32p per kWh, running flat out. Multiply by the share of the time your thermostat keeps the element on.
| Power | 1 hour | 8 hours | 24 hours | A week at 4 hours a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 watt | 3.9p | 32p | 95p | £1.11 |
| 350 watt | 9.2p | 74p | £2.21 | £2.58 |
| 700 watt | 18p | £1.47 | £4.42 | £5.16 |
How a gaming PC uses electricity
The power supply rating (650 watts, 850 watts) is a maximum, not a draw. Real draw while gaming is set by the graphics card and processor, and modern cards alone draw 150 to 450 watts.
Left on 24 hours a day at idle, an 80 watt draw adds about 58 kWh a month on top of the gaming hours. Sleep mode cuts that to almost nothing.
Ways to cut the cost
- Enable sleep after 15 minutes idle.
- Cap the frame rate. A card rendering 300 frames a second on a 144 hertz monitor is burning power for nothing.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to run a gaming PC 24/7?
Four hours at 350 watts and 70% duty plus twenty hours at 80 watts idle is about 2.6 kWh a day, about 47 cents at 18 cents per kWh or 68p at 26.32p per kWh.
Does a gaming PC use a lot of electricity?
While gaming, as much as three or four TVs. At idle, about as much as one TV. Sleep mode is the difference between 20 and 60 kWh a month.
Other living room and office costs
More in the UK
Sources
The electricity price on this page is read from the data file that also lists the release it came from. The wattage range is a published typical range, not a measurement of your appliance.