There is no single Canada-wide price. To estimate the electricity cost of a 24/7 YouTube stream from a home PC, measure the average power draw of the equipment that must stay on, convert it to monthly kilowatt-hours, then multiply by your household’s marginal electricity rate. At a continuous 100-watt draw, the PC uses 72 kWh in a 30-day month; the energy cost depends on your province, utility, plan and household usage.
Calculate the monthly electricity cost
A 30-day month has 720 hours. Use this formula for the energy component:
Monthly kWh = average wall draw in watts ÷ 1,000 × 24 × 30
Energy cost = monthly kWh × applicable marginal price per kWh
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For a time-of-use plan, split the stream’s electricity use among the applicable periods and use each period’s price. With tiered pricing, account for the household’s other consumption and whether the added use crosses a threshold. This calculation estimates energy charges; the final change to your bill can also reflect delivery and regulatory charges, rebates and taxes.
Illustrative examples
The rates below are arithmetic examples only, not Canadian residential rate claims. The wattages are assumptions, not measurements of a typical PC. Replace both inputs with your measured draw and local marginal rate.
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| Assumed average draw | Energy in 30 days | At $0.10/kWh | At $0.20/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 W | 36 kWh | $3.60 | $7.20 |
| 100 W | 72 kWh | $7.20 | $14.40 |
| 200 W | 144 kWh | $14.40 | $28.80 |
| 300 W | 216 kWh | $21.60 | $43.20 |
Measure the equipment’s actual draw
The power supply’s printed wattage is its capacity rating, not a reading of what the PC normally consumes. The workload and components affect actual draw, so guessing a “typical PC” value can make the estimate misleading. A plug-in electricity usage monitor can measure the connected equipment’s draw at the wall; no particular monitor has been tested here.
Measure over a representative period while the stream is running, then use the average watts rather than a brief peak. Include a display, capture hardware, audio equipment or other peripherals only if they need to stay powered for the stream and are part of your estimate. Do not count a router as an incremental streaming cost if it would be running anyway.
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Use the rate that applies to your household
Canada has no universal residential electricity rate. The Canadian Energy Regulator cautions that cross-country price comparisons are complicated by differences in rate structures, system designs, subsidies, delivery charges and policy. Its 2026 market snapshot uses jurisdiction-specific effective dates, including Ontario regulated-plan rates from 2025 and Quebec rates effective April 1, 2025; it is a comparative reference, not your live marginal rate. Canadian Energy Regulator: electricity prices across Canada.
Ontario examples are plan- and date-specific
The Ontario Energy Board page lists regulated prices set November 1, 2025. Its time-of-use (TOU) prices are 9.8¢/kWh off-peak, 15.7¢ mid-peak and 20.3¢ on-peak. Its ultra-low-overnight (ULO) plan lists 3.9¢, 9.8¢, 15.7¢ and 39.1¢ across four periods. Tiered prices are 12.0¢ and 14.2¢/kWh, with thresholds that change seasonally. These are Ontario electricity-line prices, not all-in Canadian rates; check the current page and your own plan before calculating. Ontario Energy Board: electricity rates.
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Toronto Hydro’s local residential page lists summer tier energy prices of 12.0¢/kWh for the first 600 kWh per month and 14.2¢/kWh above that threshold, effective May 1 to October 31, 2026. The page also describes local delivery and regulatory charges, rebates and taxes, including a 23.5% Ontario Electricity Rebate effective November 1, 2025 for most eligible consumers. These Toronto-specific details should not be applied to other Canadian households. Toronto Hydro: residential electricity rates.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Keep streaming settings separate from power estimates
YouTube’s encoder recommendations can help you configure a reliable stream, but bitrate is not a measure of the PC’s electricity use. YouTube advises choosing a quality your connection can sustain, testing before going live and monitoring stream health. For H.264, it recommends 5 Mbps at 1080p/30 fps and 6 Mbps at 1080p/60 fps; recommended settings increase at higher resolutions and frame rates. Its guidance lists RTMP/RTMPS and H.264, H.265 and AV1, supports up to 60 fps, and recommends a two-second keyframe interval that does not exceed four seconds. Those ingest settings do not establish a host PC’s wattage. See YouTube Help: encoder settings, bitrates and resolutions.
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Why your bill can differ from the calculation
- Rate structure: Time-of-use prices vary by period; tiered prices can depend on the rest of the household’s consumption and seasonal thresholds.
- Marginal versus average price: For an incremental estimate, use the price that applies to the additional consumption, not automatically the average price shown on a bill.
- Other bill items: Delivery, regulatory charges, rebates and taxes can change the actual bill impact. Their treatment differs by utility and location.
- Equipment included: Your estimate changes depending on whether it covers just the PC or all equipment that stays on for the stream.
Or let it run in the cloud
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