How much does a 60 W Mini PC server cost to run 24/7? Homelab math
A 60 W low-power home server running 24/7 at 80% utilization costs about $94.61 a year at $0.18/kWh, $7.88 a month and 526 kWh annually. This is the cost profile for the efficient homelab: an Intel N100 Mini PC, a Raspberry Pi 5 with a few USB drives, or a Synology DS220+ class NAS.
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How this is calculated
Once you drop under about 60 W idle, it stops making sense to hyper-optimize for power. The return on a $300 investment in more-efficient silicon is years, not months. More useful levers: scheduling heavy tasks (backups, re-encodes) during off-peak electricity hours where available, putting rarely accessed drives in spin-down mode (saves 5-8 W each), and sizing the PSU closer to actual draw (an 80+ Titanium 200 W PSU is more efficient at 50 W than a 750 W unit at the same load).
Verdict
$95 a year is as close to free as an always-on machine gets. For most homelab use cases, stepping down from a full PC to a 60 W Mini PC pays for itself in electricity savings within 3-5 years. It also frees you from the noise and heat of a bigger rig.
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Frequently asked questions
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