Televisions, computers, internet routers, and video game consoles don’t use a lot of power individually, but together they add up: appliances, electronic devices, and other devices account for nearly a quarter of the energy consumption of the average American home, according to government data.
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We explain how much you should worry about literally hot technology, and what you can do to keep your electronics cool and keep your energy costs down.
Why do electronic devices get hot?
Like the human body and other machines, electronic devices consume energy and waste large amounts of heat.
To keep sensitive electronic components inside at a workable temperature, the devices slowly dissipate heat, said Mark Gallina, a mechanical engineer and thermal expert at computer chip maker Intel.
The size, shape, design and usage of your device affect how well it dissipates heat.
Generally speaking, routers and laptops placed on a flat surface have less airflow and can feel hotter than routers and TVs placed upright, which have a larger ventilation area. High-performance PCs for video games use much more energy and give off more heat than simpler computers.
However, Gallina said that even if the device feels hot, it’s usually safe and not a problem.
Are your electronic devices making your home too hot?
If you’re trying to cool your home or have a small living space, heat from your electronics may be more of a concern, but it won’t have a major impact.
According to Gallina’s rough calculations, a small laptop plugged into an electrical outlet loses about 17 watts of heat energy, while a furry house cat gives off about 28 watts of heat. (Galina’s cats, Odin and Darcy, were crucial in making these calculations.)
While you probably won’t be worried about your cat or spouse (about 340 watts of heat loss) heating up your house, they will at least get hotter than most electronic devices.
What you can do to keep your electronics cool
• Make sure there is enough space around the device for ventilation.
Don’t put your router, laptop, or TV in a place with poor airflow, like a shelf packed with books, because they might not work as well and might get hot, say Gabe Cassell and Marc Sieglock, executives for Amazon’s Eero brand of routers and other devices. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
It’s also a good idea to place heat-generating devices farther apart, otherwise each device may end up generating more heat as it tries to siphon heat from its neighbors.
• Unplug devices you don’t use often, or use plugs and power them off on a schedule.
Even when you’re not using the device, it can draw power and get hot, whether it’s in standby mode or powering clocks on devices like microwaves. I unplug my TV and streaming box when I’m not using them, but it’s a pain.
Cassell uses a programmable power plug to turn outdoor lights and a basement dehumidifier on and off according to a daily schedule, and Zeeklock also has a switch that turns off many of his electronic devices at night.
Consumer Reports and Wirecutter have reviews of smart plugs, and you can also power off devices using manual dial timers like this one.
• Check the energy efficiency rating. Again, the more energy efficient a device is, the less heat it will generally give off.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star gives an efficiency certification to computers and some brands of televisions, which are by far the biggest energy consumers of home appliances, according to government statistics.
There are also self-reported energy disclosures for routers and cable TV boxes: Check out the power usage of models from Netgear, TP-Link, Eero, and cable companies Xfinity and Spectrum. (Note: Not all documentation is easy to understand.)
Johanna Newman of the environmental group Environment America said that if more electronics product reviews measured and highlighted the energy efficiency of devices, people would be able to make more informed choices.
• Sometimes there’s nothing you can do.
A laptop with security software installed by your employer running in the background will likely use more energy than a typical home computer, and therefore run hotter and drain the battery quicker.
When to worry about hot electronics
It’s not normal to hear your computer’s cooling fans spinning constantly or for electronic devices to overheat and fail.
Gallina suggested restarting your device or unplugging it from the wall outlet, waiting a few minutes and then plugging it back in or restarting it. You might also need to update the software (sometimes called firmware) on your device.
Also read Chris Velazco’s guide on what to do with an overheating phone.
If an electronic device gets hot enough to burn your skin, something is clearly wrong or broken.
