How much does a home server / nas cost to run?

Home servers and network storage systems draw 10–50 watts when idle and 50–150 watts under load, running continuously. Enthusiasts with multiple drives or high-performance systems may see 100+ watts constant draw.

Typical running cost (18.83¢/kWh, U.S. average, 2026-04)

BasisCost
Per hour (while running, 60 W typical)$0.011
Per day (24 h/day, 7/7 days)$0.27
Per month$8.25
Per year$99.04
Hourly range (small 25 W – large 150 W)$0.005 – $0.028
Save: Use hard drives in lower spin-down modes and avoid unnecessary redundancy unless the data genuinely requires it.

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