How Many Watts Does A Laptop Use When Charging? [Full Guide]

How many watts does a laptop use when it is on charging? This is the question of almost every laptop user and specifically, those users who plugin in the charger on their laptop most of the time. Apart from these some people also want to know the answer to the watts usage of a laptop while charging just to get information about it.

Read More: How Many Watts Does A Gaming PC Use?

Whether you bought a new laptop or you are using your laptop for months or years have you ever thought that how many watts a laptop uses when it is on charging?

If you are unaware of it, then don’t worry in this article we will discuss in-depth how many watts a laptop consumes when it is on charging, and also discuss the factors that affect the laptop when it’s charging. Also, we will discuss some precautions that you have to perform for the long life of the laptop.

Read More: How To Charge Laptop Battery Without Laptop?

How Many Watts Does A Laptop Use When It’s On Charging?

It’s a quite simple question, but in reality, there are too many factors depending on the watts consumption of a laptop, but in general, a laptop consumes approximately 60-90 watts per hour as per its charger.

There are several factors that define how many watts does laptop consumes when charging, let’s discuss those factors:

Factors That Affect The Laptop While Charging:

As we have told you that in general mostly laptops use 60-90 watts per but there are also some factors that affect the watts consumption.

The factors that are mostly used in watts consumption are:

  • CPU
  • Adapter
  • Graphic Cards
  • Some other parts of the laptop

CPU Of Laptop:

When the laptop or computer is spoken the word CPU automatically comes to the mind, which is called a central processing unit and it is also called the heart of the computer. In a laptop, the CPU is responsible for running the operating system and applications that we use on our laptop.

There are numerous programs that are available to check the performance of any CPU. The more fast CPU we get, the less battery we get, this is because the CPU uses too much energy to perform up to the level that gets battery exhausted.

Laptop Adapter/Charger:

The consumption of laptop watts can be determined by its charger and also its screen size.

As laptop chargers provide energy to the battery in the form of watts and the battery use this energy to perform the different tasks on the laptop.

Different laptops have different screen sizes and chargers.
But most commonly if the laptop screen is 15 inches it consumes approx 60 watts per hour and if the laptop screen is 17 inches then it consumes approx 90 watts per hour.

Graphics Card Of Laptop:

Another factor that affects the watts consumption is the Graphic card that is used in the laptop.

A graphic card also called an expansion card is responsible for rendering images to display on our screen.

The heavy graphic card not only increases the clarity and screen resolution but also helps in running the heavy software.

The watts consumption depends on the graphic card because it pushes the battery to get more energy from the charger that wahy charger has to work much more.

Other Parts Of Laptop That Affects Power Consumption:


Apart from the CPU, Adapter, and Graphic Card, there are also some other parts of the computer which affect watts consumption. These parts are screen, loudspeakers, heavy software, excessive internet, etc. they all put heavy pressure on the charger that’s why the charger consumes more watts.

How Much Power Do I Need To Charge My Laptop Battery:

The simple rule for charging the laptop battery is that The power supplied by the charger must be more than the power consumed by the battery.

For example, if you have a 25 watts charger and you are running heavy software or programs on your laptop then the laptop battery consumes more power and your battery charging will not increase.
According to the United States Department of Energy, a 50 watts charger is good for charging the laptop battery in a smooth way.

How Many Watts Gaming Laptop Use While Charging:

As we know that gaming laptops are very heavy in every sense, all of their components are very heavy because some games will run only when your laptops have great components.

In order to check the consumption of watts of a gaming laptop, you have to check the charger. Most heavy and good gaming laptops use approximately 180 watts per hour.

How Many Watts Does A MacBook Use While Charging:

Power consumption depends on the screen size, watts consumption may vary on different screen sizes. In general, if your MacBook is 13 inches then it consumes about 61 watts per hour and if your MacBook is 15 inches then it consumes about 85 watts per hour.

How Many Watts Does A HP Laptop Consume:

Well, it depends on many factors like screen size, graphic card, CPU, and other factors but in most common scenarios hp laptop consumes approximately 60-90watts per hour, For a better understanding, you can check the charger of your laptop and how many watts if is it.

8 Ways To Consume Less Power On Your Laptop:

If you understand the process of power consumption by your laptop and you are dissatisfied with it, then you have to follow the given below steps to consume less power consumption on your laptop. 

Here are some ways to less power consumption on your laptop:

  • Always unplug the charger from the laptop immediately when its charging is full.
  • Never ever overcharge your laptop (don’t plug in the charger when you are going to sleep or going away from your laptop for too many hours) because it weakens your battery and consumes more power.
  • When your battery remains only 15% immediately plug in the charger don’t wait for it to turn off.
  • You can buy a cooling pad for your laptop if your laptop overheats when it is on charging because the cooling pads are really helpful for keeping laptops cool.
  • Give some time to your laptop to cool it down before restarting the work, by this way you can control power consumption.
  • Keep your processor and other hardware updated to avoid any pressure on the laptop.
  • Don’t use local charges for your laptop, always use the original charger that is provided by the company.
  • When it’s possible keep the brightness low of your laptop as high brightness consumes more power.
  • These are some useful ways that you can use consuming less power for your laptop.

Bottom Line Of Laptop Power Consumption While Charging:

The answer to the question “How many watts does a laptop consumes when it is on charging” is quite simple. 

It depends on the laptop and its charger like gaming laptops are more powerful than normal laptops and they are consuming much power while they are on charging whereas other laptops consume less power.

You can check the power consumption of a laptop by checking the laptop charger.

We have discussed all the possible factors of power consumption and also discuss some ways of consuming less power from a laptop.

So we hope that you like this article and know all your doubts are clear.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is A Laptop Battery Consumes More Power Than Its Normal Use?

Yes, a laptop battery consumes 20% more power when it’s on charging, for e.g if a laptop uses 100 watts per hour then while charging it consumes 120 watts per hour. 

The simple logic for using more power while charging is that power uses to charge and run the laptop at the same time.

Can I Use a 60 Watts Charger on my 90 Watts Laptop?

Yes, you can use 60 watts charger on your 90 watts laptop, but you may face the problem of charging in a slow way, especially when you are running heavy programs or playing games on your laptop.

Can I use a Lower Wattage Charger (18 watts) for my Laptop?

Yes, you can use a lower wattage charger but it depends on your laptop. Like MacBook Air can be charged with 18 wattage charger but if your laptop consumes more power then you have to switch with the higher wattage charger.

By using a low-wattage charger you will see that your battery charges very slowly if your laptop consumes more power.

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