How much power does an NVR use?

Murphy625

Pulling my weight
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
198
Reaction score
143
Tried looking around but not finding the answer I'm looking for.

My PC uses about 160 watts of juice when turned on... it adds up when the computer has to run 24hrs a day. So I'm wondering, has anyone ever put a kill-o-watt meter on their NVR system to see how much power it ACTUALLY uses?
There are lots of specs on them but they are all for MAX power draw.. Google turns up lots of results but it seems everyone is talking about the camera's themselves and not the actual NVR recorder.

I anticipate my system will end up with 4 or 5 cameras but I know what the camera's require, I'm trying to figure out what the NVR device itself uses.
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
Tried looking around but not finding the answer I'm looking for.

My PC uses about 160 watts of juice when turned on... it adds up when the computer has to run 24hrs a day. So I'm wondering, has anyone ever put a kill-o-watt meter on their NVR system to see how much power it ACTUALLY uses?
There are lots of specs on them but they are all for MAX power draw.. Google turns up lots of results but it seems everyone is talking about the camera's themselves and not the actual NVR recorder.

I anticipate my system will end up with 4 or 5 cameras but I know what the camera's require, I'm trying to figure out what the NVR device itself uses.
Your PC must be really old and outdated if it’s drawing 160 W. A modern PC like an elite desk I5 8500 Would draw 7w at idle and max at 75 With 100% CPU usage.
NVR’s draw a little power About 10 to 15 W this changes with hard drives or if you’re powering cameras but you have to leave those calculations out because They would be the same in a PC
 

Murphy625

Pulling my weight
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
198
Reaction score
143
Your PC must be really old and outdated if it’s drawing 160 W. A modern PC like an elite desk I5 8500 Would draw 7w at idle and max at 75 With 100% CPU usage.
NVR’s draw a little power About 10 to 15 W this changes with hard drives or if you’re powering cameras but you have to leave those calculations out because They would be the same in a PC
Not sure of the age of my PC as I built it myself and continuously upgrade as time passes. Its an Intel Core i5-2500K with 8 gigs on an Intel motherboard.

When it sleeps, it only pulls about 6w.. as soon as it wakes up, its about 160.
 

MakeItRain

Pulling my weight
Joined
Aug 7, 2017
Messages
401
Reaction score
218
NVR4216 is less than 9.5watts without on-board POE. With onboard POE, it is less than 15.2watts. This is just the NVR itself, not including the HDD.

Compared to a PC, I can honestly tell you 100%, a Dahua NVR consumes significantly less power than a regular PC running BI 24/7.
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
Not sure of the age of my PC as I built it myself and continuously upgrade as time passes. Its an Intel Core i5-2500K with 8 gigs on an Intel motherboard.

When it sleeps, it only pulls about 6w.. as soon as it wakes up, its about 160.
There is something wrong with that number if its truly and idle number. If this is the pc only with one or two drives, there must be a powerful video card or very inefficient powersupply + a huge load on the system.
On average modern intel systems with integrated graphics with 30-50 percent load will consumer 20-50w and topping out at 75w at max load which you would never do on a vms.
 

Murphy625

Pulling my weight
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
198
Reaction score
143
There is something wrong with that number if its truly and idle number. If this is the pc only with one or two drives, there must be a powerful video card or very inefficient powersupply + a huge load on the system.
On average modern intel systems with integrated graphics with 30-50 percent load will consumer 20-50w and topping out at 75w at max load which you would never do on a vms.
I used a kill-o-watt meter to watch it. My computer has 4 hard drives.. Two are WD Green, two are WD Blue. 3 of them turn off when not being used. The one with my operating system is set to keep running. When I use my file system to access one, it takes a few seconds and you can hear it spin up..
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
I used a kill-o-watt meter to watch it. My computer has 4 hard drives.. Two are WD Green, two are WD Blue. 3 of them turn off when not being used. The one with my operating system is set to keep running. When I use my file system to access one, it takes a few seconds and you can hear it spin up..
are you saying that its 160w when at idle, without any significant load on it? Is there a video card?
 

Murphy625

Pulling my weight
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
198
Reaction score
143
are you saying that its 160w when at idle, without any significant load on it? Is there a video card?
I should check it again.. Yes, there WAS a GeForce video card in it. I frequently run double 27 inch monitors when drawing or designing machinery.. When I blew a memory stick, I had to remove everything to troubleshoot why my computer wouldn't boot.. never put the card back in and am running off the onboard video chip.

Its a 700 watt power supply and it was driving the Geforce card (has three cooling fans on it) that was hooked to two 27 inch monitors.

I've noticed that since I installed the camera and leave my computer running all night, the house is drawing more power.. Like 14kW per week more.. and the only thing that is different is my computer is always running.
 

Scott Ritchey

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
56
Reaction score
52
Location
Kittrell, NC
Tried looking around but not finding the answer I'm looking for.

My PC uses about 160 watts of juice when turned on... it adds up when the computer has to run 24hrs a day. So I'm wondering, has anyone ever put a kill-o-watt meter on their NVR system to see how much power it ACTUALLY uses?
There are lots of specs on them but they are all for MAX power draw.. Google turns up lots of results but it seems everyone is talking about the camera's themselves and not the actual NVR recorder.

I anticipate my system will end up with 4 or 5 cameras but I know what the camera's require, I'm trying to figure out what the NVR device itself uses.
See my posts: Reolink IP Cameras and Reolink IP Cameras

Short answer is 10-15 watts for NVR (plus cams if PoE). A late-model commercial PC will be 30-50 watts. A DIY PC may be be a lot more. Monitor is extra but will normally power down when not actually in use.

Maybe you need a newer PC. No need to buy new. See here: Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris
 

Mark_M

Getting comfortable
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
963
Reaction score
1,366
Location
Land down down under
Your PC must be really old and outdated if it’s drawing 160 W.
Is this a laptops output power rating?
Not sure of the age of my PC as I built it myself and continuously upgrade as time passes.
Nope, not a laptop....
Its a 700 watt power supply
Yeah, that sounds like output power, not mains input.


I can guarantee you, an NVR with Cameras won't use as much as analogue PTZ's and power bricks per camera. A power brick on it's own with no load is consuming a little power, nothing is 100% efficient. Then multiply unnecessary power loss.
Worse in winter when the cameras heaters turn on.
At least for the crap I've got :)
 

Scott Ritchey

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
56
Reaction score
52
Location
Kittrell, NC
See my posts: Reolink IP Cameras and Reolink IP Cameras

Short answer is 10-15 watts for NVR (plus cams if PoE). A late-model commercial PC will be 30-50 watts. A DIY PC may be be a lot more. Monitor is extra but will normally power down when not actually in use.

Maybe you need a newer PC. No need to buy new. See here: Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris
Data point: I just bought a new 27 in led monitor which consumes 25 watts when on (and next to nothing in standby). So a monitor uses almost as much power as a computer.
 
Top