iPhone 5 Costs Roughly $0.41 Per Year to Charge

MacRumors · Sep 27, 2012, 09:59 AM

Energy efficiency company Opower today released a study calculating the annual energy cost for charging the iPhone 5 at just $0.41. While any user's actual cost would vary based on use and electricity rates in their areas, Opower's estimate assumes a full charge once per day at a U.S. average of 11.8 cents per kWh.

But while an individual iPhone 5 uses a minuscule amount of energy, the massive popularity of Apple's devices results in significant energy demand in aggregate.

Quote:

Even if we consider just the 170 million iPhone 5's that are projected to be sold globally in the next year, their aggregate electricity requirements are nothing to sneeze at. The collective annual electricity consumption of the iPhone 5's sold within 12 months will be equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 54,000 US households (roughly equivalent to the size of Cedar Rapids - the second largest city in Iowa). That's just for one smartphone model over one year.

Still, the study notes that smartphones use significantly less energy than other entertainment devices, and a shift from more traditional entertainment sources to smartphones can result in an overall benefit to energy consumption.

The explosion in smartphone usage is of course just one part of a surge in consumer electronics, which now represent approximately 13% of U.S. household energy usage. That growth, which comes even as the efficiency of appliances and other devices has significantly improved, has been driven by a massive increase in the kinds and numbers of devices being used in homes, from televisions to gaming systems to computers.

Article Link: iPhone 5 Costs Roughly $0.41 Per Year to Charge

Arxcher · Sep 27, 2012, 10:00 AM

Because this is what I worry about when I am dropping hundreds of dollars on a product...

AbyssImpact · Sep 27, 2012, 10:01 AM

iPhone 4 is cheaper, might as well buy that instead.

Ryth · Sep 27, 2012, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arxcher

Because this is what I worry about when I am dropping hundreds of dollars on a product...

The environmentalists worry about it...green is better.

powers74 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arxcher

Because this is what I worry about when I am dropping hundreds of dollars on a product...

Ha. yeah. that's what I was thinking. sure makes up for the 2 grand we piss away on the service contract!

dlewis23 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:03 AM

Like people are really concerned how much there cell phone costs to charge.

They are so much more concerned that it doesn't have NFC that they can't really use anywhere.

logicpro7 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:03 AM

Really that cheap? I would have thought more than that a week. Im in the UK though, so im not sure how much a difference elec bills would be.

Currently pay around £1000 a year here.

chakdey · Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM

okay

coredev · Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM

I know for sure that doing my casual surfing with iPhone/iPad instead of the MacBookPro did wonders for my energy bill.
According to this, I should use the iPhone instead of the iPad more often to save even more energy.

jnpy!$4g3cwk · Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM

What is the cost of leaving the charger plugged in when not charging?

Arxcher · Sep 27, 2012, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryth

The environmentalists worry about it...green is better.

Ha! I am sure the environmentalists are tweeting their anger about the carbon footprint electronic devices use as we speak!!

HarryKeogh · Sep 27, 2012, 10:05 AM

Interesting. If I were to have taken a wild guess before I saw this article I would have guessed around 10 bucks.

CleaverF22 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:05 AM

Probably the most useless and irrelavent article I've read in a while. My drive to work (12 miles) in one day uses more "energy" than my iphone will ever use. Is this trying to make me feel bad that we have iphones?

jessica. · Sep 27, 2012, 10:07 AM

It takes more to write an article on this than it does to charge the iPhone. Silly article.

Ryan914 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:07 AM

If we translate that over to Australian energy prices I believe the iPhone 5 costs $685.76 AUD to charge per year.

Small White Car · Sep 27, 2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleaverF22

Is this trying to make me feel bad that we have iphones?

Why would you think that?

I think statistics and knowledge are very cool and always interesting. Why would they make you feel bad?

WildCowboy · Sep 27, 2012, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleaverF22

Probably the most useless and irrelavent article I've read in a while. My drive to work (12 miles) in one day uses more "energy" than my iphone will ever use. Is this trying to make me feel bad that we have iphones?

No. I just thought it was an interesting comparison that most people never think about. As we've seen already in this thread, people are surprised how small the number is.

And of course larger devices use more electricity than smaller ones. But would I have guessed that an Xbox 360 used 100x more energy if I had ever really thought about it? Probably not.

Take it for what it is...a quick look at how little energy a smartphone uses and how that compares to some other stuff you have around the house. It's not good or bad unless you want to make it so.

needfx · 10:20 AM

don't know, they could better

BigMcGuire · Sep 27, 2012, 10:13 AM

I knew I felt guilty for charging my phone at work!!! I am stealing.

I will apologize to my boss and put down a few $1s to cover my cellular charging for the last few years. <cries>

Freyqq · Sep 27, 2012, 10:14 AM

Why is this about iphones? Any smartphone would use that kind of energy.

bse3 · Sep 27, 2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryth

The environmentalists worry about it...green is better.

We should buy phones without screens, because really, phones are where we waste most energy. Right?

BigMcGuire · Sep 27, 2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnpy!$4g3cwk

What is the cost of leaving the charger plugged in when not charging?

Extremely ... extremely minuscule. Hook it up to a Kill-A-Watt sometime. Basically, the electrical cost of a cellphone or a Macbook Air for an entire year is less than 1 visit to Starbucks. Now, x millions of cellphone users adds up but still... My 800 watt gaming computer makes me a terrible person. <cough>

Check out: http://standby.lbl.gov/summary-table.html

Looks like .26 watts? lawl

Arxcher · Sep 27, 2012, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freyqq

Why is this about iphones? Any smartphone would use that kind of energy.

They do mention the Galaxy S3, which I must point out costs more money than the iPhone 5. Take that Samsung!

KdParker · Sep 27, 2012, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnpy!$4g3cwk

What is the cost of leaving the charger plugged in when not charging?

4 bucks ?

justperry · Sep 27, 2012, 10:17 AM

This is indeed little, but what about all the servers you access and the antennas it uses to connect you to calls and the internet?

Sep 27, 2012, 10:00 AM	#2
Arxcher macrumors member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: NY, NY	Because this is what I worry about when I am dropping hundreds of dollars on a product...
	31

Sep 27, 2012, 10:03 AM	#6
dlewis23 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2007	Like people are really concerned how much there cell phone costs to charge. They are so much more concerned that it doesn't have NFC that they can't really use anywhere. __________________ FireFile.io - Cloud storage for all Speedtest X HD - The #1 iPad Speedtest
	2

Sep 27, 2012, 10:03 AM	#7
logicpro7 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London UK	Really that cheap? I would have thought more than that a week. Im in the UK though, so im not sure how much a difference elec bills would be. Currently pay around £1000 a year here. __________________ 13" 2.5 i5 MacBook Pro - 16GB RAM - Samsung 256GB 830 SSD - Momentus XT 500GB Hybrid - 27" Apple LED Cinema Display - ATV3 1080P - Slate iPhone 5 16GB
	2

Sep 27, 2012, 10:05 AM	#13
CleaverF22 macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	Useless info Probably the most useless and irrelavent article I've read in a while. My drive to work (12 miles) in one day uses more "energy" than my iphone will ever use. Is this trying to make me feel bad that we have iphones?
	5

Sep 27, 2012, 10:07 AM	#14
jessica. macrumors Nehalem Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Wrong girl from the right side of the tracks	It takes more to write an article on this than it does to charge the iPhone. Silly article. __________________ Because I'm an ahole.
	6

Sep 27, 2012, 10:01 AM	#3
AbyssImpact macrumors 6502a Join Date: Aug 2010	iPhone 4 is cheaper, might as well buy that instead.
	27

Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM	#8
chakdey macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2008	okay
	3

Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM	#9
coredev macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2012	I know for sure that doing my casual surfing with iPhone/iPad instead of the MacBookPro did wonders for my energy bill. According to this, I should use the iPhone instead of the iPad more often to save even more energy.
	1

Sep 27, 2012, 10:04 AM	#10
jnpy!$4g3cwk macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2010	What is the cost of leaving the charger plugged in when not charging?
	8

Sep 27, 2012, 10:05 AM	#12
HarryKeogh macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2008	Interesting. If I were to have taken a wild guess before I saw this article I would have guessed around 10 bucks.
	4

Sep 27, 2012, 10:07 AM	#15
Ryan914 macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: North Coast, NSW, Australia	If we translate that over to Australian energy prices I believe the iPhone 5 costs $685.76 AUD to charge per year.
	15

Sep 27, 2012, 10:12 AM	#18
needfx In Time-Out Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: macrumors apparently	don't know, they could better Last edited by needfx; Sep 27, 2012 at 10:20 AM.
	0

Sep 27, 2012, 10:13 AM	#19
BigMcGuire macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2012	I knew I felt guilty for charging my phone at work!!! I am stealing. I will apologize to my boss and put down a few $1s to cover my cellular charging for the last few years. <cries>
	10

Sep 27, 2012, 10:14 AM	#20
Freyqq macrumors 68020 Join Date: Dec 2004	Why is this about iphones? Any smartphone would use that kind of energy.
	2

Sep 27, 2012, 10:17 AM	#25
justperry macrumors 603 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: 7 Km South of an active upside down volcano.	This is indeed little, but what about all the servers you access and the antennas it uses to connect you to calls and the internet?
	2

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