What’s actually slowing this PC down?
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Short answer: a home PC’s electricity cost depends on the measured average wall draw of the whole setup, how long it runs, and your electricity rate. A managed cloud loop instead has a published subscription fee. For a 30-day month, a setup drawing an assumed constant 100 W would use 72 kWh and cost about $12.46 at the 2025 U.S. residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. StreamNeo’s managed monthly option is $9.99 per month. Those figures compare electricity with a service fee, not two identical cost bundles.
Calculate your home PC’s electricity cost
Use the average wall draw of the complete equipment that stays powered for the stream—not the computer’s processor rating or a generic estimate of “PC wattage.” Measure while the fireplace video is streaming in the way you intend to use it. Include the PC and any monitor, speakers, capture or networking equipment that remains powered specifically for the stream. If you can switch off a display, do not count it as running continuously.
The calculation is:
Average watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = kilowatt-hours (kWh)
kWh × electricity price per kWh = electricity cost
A kilowatthour is 1,000 watts expended for one hour, as defined in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s glossary. For a 30-day month running around the clock, use 720 hours; for a 365-day year, use 8,760 hours.
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Measure wall draw before estimating
A plug-in electricity meter can measure the draw at the outlet while the stream is running. Choose a meter that matches your outlet and electrical rating, and follow its manufacturer’s safety instructions. Measure the whole setup you plan to leave on; do not treat the scenarios below as measurements of any particular PC. If the computer would already be on for other work, compare the extra draw caused by streaming rather than charging the stream for the entire computer’s consumption.
Example costs at a U.S. electricity benchmark
The EIA reports a 2025 U.S. residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. The table applies that rate to assumed, constant average wall draws; values are arithmetic scenarios rounded to cents, not typical-PC estimates or test results.
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| Assumed average draw | 30-day energy | 30-day electricity cost | 365-day energy | 365-day electricity cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 W | 7.2 kWh | $1.25 | 87.6 kWh | $15.15 |
| 50 W | 36 kWh | $6.23 | 438 kWh | $75.77 |
| 100 W | 72 kWh | $12.46 | 876 kWh | $151.55 |
| 150 W | 108 kWh | $18.68 | 1,314 kWh | $227.32 |
The EIA’s 2025 residential average is a U.S. benchmark, not a universal tariff. Its 2025 annual average retail prices across all customer types ranged from 8.20¢/kWh in North Dakota to 35.72¢/kWh in Hawaii. The figures come from Electric Power Monthly tables using February 2026 preliminary data. Use the rate relevant to your own bill and location; fixed charges and the bill’s marginal rate can also affect what you actually pay. See the EIA’s electricity price data and explanation.
Compare the home-PC route with a managed cloud loop
| Route | What the cost represents | What stays at home | Work and dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home PC | Variable electricity cost from measured draw, run hours and your local rate; this does not include the PC’s purchase cost. | The PC and any other equipment left on for the broadcast. | You operate the streaming setup and depend on home power and internet. Interruptions can stop the broadcast. |
| Managed cloud loop | A vendor’s subscription for the service and features specified by its plan, rather than a household electricity estimate. | Your uploaded media; the computer can be off after the cloud stream starts. | The vendor handles the cloud loop, but the broadcast still depends on its service and its connection to YouTube. No uptime guarantee is established here. |
| DIY cloud VM or custom stack | Configuration-dependent charges, potentially including compute for the full runtime, storage and outbound data. | Usually no continuously running home encoder, though you still configure and maintain the cloud system. | You handle encoding, monitoring, restarts and maintenance. A total requires pricing a specific architecture with the provider’s calculator. |
What StreamNeo’s subscription covers
StreamNeo is a managed service for looping uploaded videos to YouTube Live: upload your video or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key, and start the broadcast. Its computer can then be turned off. StreamNeo lists one continuous stream, 10 GB of storage, and looping at the selected plan’s resolution and frame rate. Its official product and pricing page displayed a global 1080p30 monthly plan at $9.99 per month when checked on October 3, 2026, and a 24-hour trial. Plan details, prices and terms can change, so check the live StreamNeo page before signing up.
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At the 2025 U.S. residential benchmark and 720 hours per month, a continuous draw of roughly 80 W would have the same electricity-only cost as that listed global monthly fee. This is a break-even calculation for electricity alone; it does not include hardware, home internet, taxes, service limits, reliability, or the value of using the PC for other jobs. It is not a claim that any particular setup draws 80 W.
Why a general-purpose VM is not the same price comparison
A managed video-loop subscription and a generic virtual machine are different products. A DIY cloud broadcast may need a VM running continuously, media storage, outbound transfer, encoding capacity, and your own restart monitoring and upkeep. Without a defined provider, region, instance, storage amount, video bitrate and traffic pattern, there is no comparable VM total to quote. Use the chosen provider’s calculator for that design rather than treating StreamNeo’s subscription as a VM estimate.
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Choose the comparison that matches your situation
- Your computer is already on: measure the incremental wall draw with and without the stream if you want the stream’s added electricity cost. The whole-PC cost may overstate that increment.
- You would leave equipment on only for this broadcast: include each device kept powered, then compare the calculated electricity with a managed service’s actual plan and included scope.
- You want to avoid a home encoder: a managed cloud loop shifts the looping workload away from your home PC, but introduces dependence on the vendor and its YouTube connection.
- You want a custom cloud setup: price a specific architecture, including runtime, storage and outbound transfer, and account for configuration and ongoing maintenance.
DOE’s December 2024 FEMP purchasing guidance gives annual-use examples of 12 kWh for a “best available” desktop, 52 kWh for an ENERGY STAR example, and 208 kWh for a less-efficient example. They use 11¢/kWh and are procurement comparisons based on December 2024 product-list and market data—not evidence of what a particular computer will consume while continuously streaming. Replacing a PC solely to run one loop is not shown to be economically worthwhile by those examples. See DOE FEMP’s computer purchasing guidance.
Remember that video rights and YouTube rules still apply
Moving a broadcast to the cloud does not change the channel owner’s content obligations. YouTube’s Livestream terms and conditions state, “The Live Content must comply with the YouTube Community Guidelines.” They also require the provider to have the necessary rights for use of live content on Google services, including music licensing rights where applicable. Make sure you have the rights to the fireplace footage, soundtrack and any other material in the loop, regardless of where it is streamed from.
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Or let it run in the cloud
Upload your fireplace video or playlist to StreamNeo, add your YouTube stream key, and go live. Nothing has to stay on at home. Your upload streams at its original quality up to 4K 60fps for one flat price per slot, with automatic recovery if YouTube drops the stream. The first day is free with no card; the monthly option is $9.99 per month. StreamNeo is for uploaded videos streamed to YouTube, not a live camera feed. Start your free StreamNeo day.
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