The fact that many of us have to tighten our belts as a result of the increase in energy prices is a sad reality of the current geopolitical situation in the world. Governments across Europe are responding to higher energy prices in different ways. Perhaps the most unusual recommendation comes from France.
The local government recommends that residents turn off their Wi-Fi routers when going on vacation, thanks to which they should save not only the environment, but also their wallets. informed the server Živě.cz. “We will be able to use every bit of energy that we are now able to save together in autumn or winter,” says the government.
The French government advises people to save wherever possible. This year’s winter is expected to be extremely difficult in terms of energy consumption. As a result of the restriction, or of the complete stoppage of gas supplies from Russia, the states had to proceed to fill the gas reservoirs as quickly as possible. The good news is that Slovakia is among the top in this regard.
In addition to Wi-Fi routers, people should turn off lights in rooms they are not in and reduce as much as possible the power of air conditioners, which are known for high electricity consumption.
How much does it cost to operate a Wi-Fi router?
Well, how much energy will you save if you follow France’s advice and turn off the Wi-Fi router? Of course, it depends on which router you use. However, according to the EnergySage website, normal consumption is at the level 5-20 W. But if you use one of those assigned to you by the operator (e.g. very popular Huawei HG8245H), it won’t be much. The router only consumes 9 wattswhich means if you have it on for a whole year, it will use up 78.84 kWh of electricity. At the current price approx €0.153 per kWh (SSE) means that you it costs €12 per year.
However, if you go for a more powerful model, the prices will differ significantly. You have to count not only with the higher price of the device, but also with its operation. A modern and extremely powerful router ASUS GT-AXE16000which goes on sale only now, consumes up to 65 W electricity. This means that you annually at consumption 1.56 kWh/day will cost up to €87.
What does this mean? Unless you have an ultra-powerful router model at home that consumes more than 65W of power, turning off your home Wi-Fi doesn’t make much sense. However, if you have a powerful Wi-Fi router, turning it off can save up to €10 a month, depending on the model.
