Charging your iPad for a year would cost you less than a cup of coffee

posted by Victor H. / Jun 22, 2012, 7:50 AM

Charging your iPad for a year would cost you less than a cup of coffee

Apple’s brand new third-generation iPad stands out in the tablet world - it’s not only the best selling tablet, it not only has a mind-blowing 2048x1536-pixel display, but it also has the best battery life as a standalone tablet. Good, but when you learn that the battery inside it is of a massive 11,666mAh capacity, you start wondering whether charging the device actually doesn’t cost you a significant amount per year.

Turns out, the answer is a resounding no. “That coffee you’re drinking while gazing at your iPad? It cost more than all the electricity needed to run those games, emails, videos and news stories for a year,” a study by the non-profit Electric Power Research institute concluded.

The exact annual amount comes to a mere $1.36. The usage was measured under the assumption that users would charge the iPad every other day - pretty reasonable given the tablet’s 10-hour battery life - so that over one year the iPad consumes 11.86 kilowatts of electricity.

That’s actually less than a 60-watt fluorescent bulb that would cost you $1.61. And if you compare it to a traditional desktop PC the difference is 20 times in favor of the iPad. Yearly, powering up your desktop computer costs an average $28.21. The average refrigerator sets you back $65.72 per year.

So even if the number of iPads triples from the 67 million now in use, the world would just need one small power plant to power them all. But the environmental effect of switching from a PC to an iPad completely (you judge if that’s viable) would definitely be noticeable.

The Electric Power Research institute is now conducting a study on whether the tablet boom is increasing or actually reducing overall power consumption.

source: AP via parislemon

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20 Comments

1. nicholassss

Posts: 368; Member since: May 10, 2012

So if you're realistic with the usage( i dont know anyone who uses a tablet and doesnt wear out the battery in a day), its probably like 2.72... still half the price of a latte.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:10 AM 0

13. gp284

Posts: 120; Member since: Feb 25, 2012

My dad has the new iPad and he does charge it every day. HHowever he uses it for work and when he does charge it, the battery is around 60%. So really that would mean for at least him, that it would actually cost less right?

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 10:30 AM 4

2. adi4u4882

Posts: 137; Member since: Jan 10, 2012

"Yearly, charging your desktop computer costs an average $28.21" Dafaq?

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:14 AM 6

3. matty1323

Posts: 43; Member since: Nov 22, 2011

Dafaq! LMAO I've never heard that before, I love it. My PC's battery really sucks, seems like whenever I unplug it, it will just die!?

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:20 AM 7

8. Victor.H

Posts: 1104; Member since: May 27, 2011

It's for powering the PC, of course, not charging it. I've made it all clear now in the article, but thanks for the catch :)

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 9:26 AM 1

4. maxkobi

Posts: 30; Member since: Jun 17, 2011

so my transformer is more like 1.36 ;)

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:22 AM 5

5. medicci37

Posts: 1361; Member since: Nov 19, 2011

Charging my Alienware m17x costs more than a refrigerator. Can't say i'm suprised though. lol

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:36 AM 4

10. ghostkilla1388

Posts: 50; Member since: Jun 11, 2012

try a m18x.... lol i love it though but i never unplug it, kills the battery.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 9:56 AM 2

6. sarb009

Posts: 322; Member since: Jun 15, 2011

i never charged my desktop pc before, perhaps at the time of selling it the pc city forgot to tell me that i need to charge it every now and then. But now i'll charge it every day. THANKS phonearena for this valuable informarion.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 8:38 AM 2

7. denied911

Posts: 361; Member since: May 31, 2012

12ah times allmost 4v and heat from charger and battery during charging gives you like 60 watt so 60x365=21kwh and in my country it gives you 1 cup of coffee great news ... childern can count that in their sleep

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 9:21 AM 0

9. ivanko34

Posts: 617; Member since: Sep 04, 2011

Again an article from victor h about how magic is apple

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 9:43 AM 6

15. Caralho

Posts: 119; Member since: Jun 18, 2012

Mr. Horny... suck my avatar.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 12:50 PM 3

16. SlimSoulja86

Posts: 660; Member since: Nov 03, 2011

Oh ok!

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 1:41 PM 0

17. Stuntman

Posts: 843; Member since: Aug 01, 2011

So, how does this compare with other tablets? If it is the same, then I would say that you can extend this article to encompass all tablets and not just iPads.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:29 PM 1

20. SemperFiV12

Posts: 949; Member since: Nov 09, 2010

iphonearena reporting.

posted on Jun 23, 2012, 2:01 PM 0

18. downphoenix

Posts: 3165; Member since: Jun 19, 2010

Apple fluff confirmed, given that the batt life of New Ipad is rated at about 8 hours, by Apple. Asus rates the Transformer, without the keyboard dock, at 10 hours, 16 with dock.