{"id":127092,"date":"2026-05-16T13:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/i-measured-my-homelabs-power-draw-with-a-smart-plug-and-discovered-the-real-cost\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T13:17:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:17:32","slug":"i-measured-my-homelabs-power-draw-with-a-smart-plug-and-discovered-the-real-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/i-measured-my-homelabs-power-draw-with-a-smart-plug-and-discovered-the-real-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"I measured my homelab’s power draw with a smart plug and discovered the real cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Have you ever ever puzzled simply how a lot it prices to run your homelab? The reply may shock you\u2014it did for me. This is how I began measuring the facility draw of my homelab, and why it is necessary to take action.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Bigger homelabs can draw a number of energy
\n <\/h2>\n

\n I had executed the calculations on one server, however not the entire homelab
\n <\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\"A\n <\/picture>Credit score:\u00a0Patrick Campanale \/ How-To Geek<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve written earlier than about how expensive my servers were to run<\/a> in my homelab. The issue is, these calculations had been based mostly solely on the cost of running those servers<\/em><\/a>, not my whole homelab.<\/p>\n

As soon as I obtained an energy monitoring smart plug<\/a>, I used to be capable of see the facility draw of the whole homelab, and it was undoubtedly greater than I anticipated. I have already got all the things plugged right into a UPS, which does present me energy draw, nevertheless it fluctuates and I am undecided how dependable it’s, because the runtime estimate on it is not all that correct.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, as soon as I plugged all the things into the power monitoring good plug, I noticed the quantity of energy my homelab is truly<\/em> drawing\u2014500-600W. Between my three NAS techniques, my three mini PCs, my desktop server, my router, and my PoE swap, I am drawing half a kilowatt of energy to run my homelab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n


\n \"The<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\t\t