Home › Appliances › Home Office
How Much Does It Cost to Run a Home Server or NAS? (2026)
A network-attached storage box runs 24 hours a day, so even a modest 40 watt draw adds up to 350 kWh a year. Repurposed desktop PCs used as servers can use three times that.
A typical home server or nas (40 W) costs $0.007 per hour, or about $5.18 per month at 24 hours a day in United States (average). Average running cost
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (15 W) | $0.003 | $0.065 | $1.94 | $23.65 |
| Typical (40 W) | $0.007 | $0.17 | $5.18 | $63.07 |
| High (150 W) | $0.027 | $0.65 | $19.44 | $236.52 |
Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 24 h/day ≈ 350 kWh per year.
ad
How to lower the cost of running a home server or nas
- Enable disk spin-down for drives that are rarely accessed.
- Choose low-power hardware. A purpose-built NAS uses a fraction of an old desktop.
- Consolidate services onto one box rather than running several.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a NAS 24/7?
At 40 watts, about 29 kWh a month. Pick your region above for the cost.
Does a NAS use a lot of electricity?
Not per hour, but continuous operation makes it one of the larger always-on loads in a home.
Is a Raspberry Pi cheaper to run as a server?
Far cheaper, at 3 to 6 watts, but with much less storage and performance.
Cost by region
- United States (average)
- California
- Texas
- New York
- Florida
- Canada (average)
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- France
- Australia
- India