There is no single monthly electricity cost for running an OBS playlist stream 24/7 in India. Measure the equipment’s average wall draw, convert it to monthly units, then apply the energy rate and billing arrangement that actually apply to your room.
For a 30-day month, each watt of continuous average draw uses 0.72 kWh. That gives you a reusable estimate without assuming a typical OBS computer or a national tariff. Your final bill can still differ because of slabs, duties, fixed charges, subsidies or the way your landlord bills a submeter.
Why there is no one India-wide monthly estimate
The stream’s energy use depends first on the computer and any other equipment you include. OBS does not have a fixed power requirement: an older desktop, a compact PC and a gaming computer can draw different amounts, and the same computer can draw more while encoding or running a demanding scene. A power supply’s rated capacity is not the same as the watts the computer continuously takes from the wall.
The rupee cost depends on a separate set of details. Retail electricity tariffs are set locally, and the applicable energy rate can depend on your state, distribution company, consumer category and the household’s position in a billing slab. Subsidies, duties, fuel adjustments and fixed charges may also affect the bill. The Central Electricity Authority’s tariff publication compiles tariff information, but its figures are not a substitute for your current bill or local tariff order.
A rented room does not by itself tell you which category applies or what rate you will pay. The actual consumer account might serve a domestic dwelling, a business, a guest house or a shared building; the submeter arrangement may also differ from the utility’s bill. Treat any rupee figure that skips those details as a scenario, not a prediction.
Measure the equipment’s actual wall draw
Start by deciding what you want the estimate to cover. If you want the incremental cost of the stream alone, measure the computer and the devices needed to run it. If you also want the cost of your wider streaming setup, include the monitor, speakers, capture device, router or other equipment that stays on because of the broadcast. Do not count a room fan or general lighting as stream equipment unless you are deliberately including them.
A plug-in energy meter, sometimes sold as a wattmeter, can show the power drawn through a socket and often record accumulated kWh. For example, Yantram’s PM10 product page describes readings for watts and accumulated energy. Check that a meter suits your socket and the load you plan to connect. It is optional measurement equipment, not a requirement for OBS.
Measure the complete set of devices together if they share the same power strip and you want their combined cost. Run the playlist normally during the measurement: a result taken while the PC is idle may not represent its draw with OBS encoding and the stream active. If the load varies over the day, accumulated kWh over elapsed hours gives a more useful average than a single momentary watt reading. The US Department of Energy’s guide to measuring fluctuating standby power explains the value of measuring consumption over time and averaging it.
For example, if a meter records 2.4 kWh over 24 hours, divide energy by hours and multiply by 1,000 to find average watts: 2.4 ÷ 24 × 1,000 = 100 W. This is just an arithmetic example, not a claim about how much a typical OBS setup uses. If you can measure over several representative days, that may better capture normal playlist operation, brief interruptions and changes in load.
If you cannot get an energy meter, a wall-power meter reading taken during normal operation is still more informative than the computer’s PSU label. Treat a brief reading as an approximation if the load moves around. Keep a note of what was plugged into the meter and whether the display was included, so you do not later compare unlike setups.
Convert continuous operation into monthly units
The formula is:
Monthly kWh = average wall power (W) × hours per day × days ÷ 1,000.
For continuous operation over a 30-day estimate, that simplifies to:
Monthly kWh = average watts × 0.72.
The factor comes from 24 hours × 30 days ÷ 1,000. It is derived arithmetic, not a measured benchmark. For a month with a different number of days, use the full formula rather than 0.72. If the stream runs for fewer than 24 hours each day, enter its actual average runtime.
Here are usage scenarios to show how the conversion works. The wattages are assumptions for comparison, not recommended equipment sizes or typical OBS draws.
| Assumed average wall draw | Energy over 30 days at 24/7 | Example energy charge at ₹3–₹8/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 30 W | 21.6 kWh | about ₹65–₹173 |
| 60 W | 43.2 kWh | about ₹130–₹346 |
| 100 W | 72 kWh | about ₹216–₹576 |
| 200 W | 144 kWh | about ₹432–₹1,152 |
The ₹3–₹8 per-unit span in this table is only a calculation scenario. It is not a claimed national tariff range. The charges are rounded energy-charge estimates based on multiplying the scenario kWh by the scenario rate. They leave out fixed charges, duties, slab changes, subsidies, fuel adjustments and any landlord charge above the utility’s unit rate.
You can replace both assumptions with your own numbers. If your measured average is 75 W, for example, multiply 75 by 0.72 to get 54 kWh over 30 days. Then use the relevant marginal energy rate from your current tariff or the rate your landlord says applies to your submeter. This yields an estimate for energy, not necessarily the complete amount that will appear on a bill.
Apply the tariff that actually applies to you
Look at a recent electricity bill for the service address, not a tariff figure remembered from a different city or year. Find the consumer category and the unit charges or slab rates, and check whether the bill shows duties, other per-unit adjustments or fixed charges. If a new tariff order has taken effect since that bill, confirm the current terms with the DISCOM or state electricity regulator.
A marginal rate matters when you are estimating the extra cost of adding the stream. If the home is billed in slabs, the stream’s units may fall partly in one slab and partly in another, depending on the household’s existing use and the tariff structure. Multiplying all extra units by the first listed rate can understate the effect if those units move usage into a higher slab. If you cannot determine the marginal amount from the bill, calculate a range using the relevant rates and label it as an estimate.
As a historical illustration rather than a current recommendation, the CEA’s 2025 compilation lists Chandigarh tariff rates effective from 1 August 2024. It shows domestic energy rates of ₹2.75, ₹4.80 and ₹5.40 per kWh across listed slabs, and commercial rates of ₹4.50, ₹4.70 and ₹5.90 per kWh, with fixed or demand charges also listed. Those figures describe that place and effective date; they are not a current rate for every Chandigarh consumer, and they are not your rate unless your actual tariff confirms it.
Time-based tariffs can add another complication. Government policy describes state-specified solar-hour tariffs below normal rates and peak-hour tariffs above them, with implementation dependent on the applicable arrangements. Do not apply a time-of-day discount or premium just because it appears in a policy summary. Check whether your state order and meter make it relevant to your account. The Ministry of Power’s PIB release discusses time-of-day tariffs; the order for your area determines what applies in practice.
Keep stream cost separate from room cost
The useful question is usually not “What will my electricity bill be?” but “How much extra energy does this stream use?” The full room bill includes things that would remain on if OBS were closed: refrigeration, lights, fans, charging and other residents’ equipment. Keep those baseline uses separate from the computer and peripherals you need for the channel.
For a stream-only estimate, meter the PC and stream-specific equipment, calculate their monthly-equivalent kWh, and multiply by the relevant marginal energy rate. For a complete setup estimate, meter the router or display too if it is dedicated to the stream or would otherwise be switched off. If the router serves your room’s ordinary internet use anyway, decide whether you want to count all its energy against the stream or only report the equipment bundle transparently.
This distinction also helps you investigate a bill that rises after the stream starts. Record the meter’s accumulated kWh and the hours measured, then compare like periods as far as practical. A household’s other use, changing weather and billing dates can obscure a small change in the total bill, so a plug-in meter on the stream equipment is more direct than trying to infer its draw from the whole-room bill alone.
If you are comparing a spare-PC setup with a different way of keeping a channel live, compare actual costs and responsibilities rather than assuming that moving a workload makes electricity free. The explanation of a 24/7 relaxation channel on a spare PC can help you think through what equipment a local setup keeps running. If the broadcast needs to recover after an interruption, this guide to restarting a disconnected 24/7 stream covers a separate operational concern; a restart does not change the tariff calculation.
Check how electricity is billed in your rented room
Ask the landlord or property manager how the room’s electricity is measured before turning a PC into a permanent load. There is no universal landlord billing rule. Some rooms may have an individual utility connection, some may use a submeter, and some buildings may divide a common bill by an agreed method. Do not assume that a landlord’s stated rate equals the utility’s marginal unit rate, or that it includes only energy charges.
Ask for the current bill or a clear explanation of the billing method. Useful questions include: Is the room on its own meter or a submeter? How is the per-unit amount set? Are fixed charges or duties shared, and if so, how? When is the meter read, and can you record its reading before and after a test period? If the amount is a fixed monthly electricity charge, ask whether that amount changes with additional use and how any change is calculated.
Renting does not automatically mean commercial electricity billing. An Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission order for FY 2025–26 gives an example in which a dwelling used solely for residential purposes is domestic whether rented or owned, while temporary-stay hotels and guest houses are excluded. That is an Odisha-specific classification example, not a nationwide ruling. Check the OERC order and your own state’s current rules if the consumer category is in question.
A plug-in meter can establish how many units your equipment uses, but it cannot determine the legal category on the utility account or the amount the landlord is entitled to charge under your arrangement. If you are unsure what the room’s quoted rate covers, get the answer in writing before relying on it for a monthly budget. It is easier to resolve the distinction between a utility tariff and a room-level charge before a disagreement over the bill.
Reduce uncertainty before leaving OBS running
Do a short, controlled check before making a decision about continuous operation. Connect the equipment you intend to leave on, start the playlist and stream as usual, and measure its energy use over a representative period. Note the meter readings, start and end times, equipment included and any period when the stream or power stopped. Convert that reading to an average, then scale it to the hours and days you expect to run.
Check that the PC is doing the work you intend rather than rendering an unnecessary scene or keeping an unused display lit. A lower workload may reduce draw, but do not assume it will do so by a specific amount: remeasure after any change. Likewise, a desktop computer replaced by a different device may use less or more electricity depending on the actual equipment and workload. The meter result is the useful comparison.
If a computer is left in a rented room, power continuity and billing are distinct issues. A UPS may help bridge short interruptions, but it adds equipment and does not make an indefinite outage disappear. A guide to setting up a UPS for Raspberry Pi streaming in India can help you consider backup power for a different low-power setup; check the runtime of the equipment you actually have rather than assuming the example transfers directly.
A continuous PC-based stream also means leaving your own computer and room power in use. If that is the part that makes the arrangement impractical, StreamNeo can remove the need to keep your computer switched on for the broadcast: you upload the video and use your YouTube stream key, while the channel continues from the cloud. It is YouTube-only, so make sure that fits your channel before considering it.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
How much electricity does OBS use in a month?
OBS itself does not have one fixed monthly electricity use; the computer and connected equipment draw the power. Measure average wall watts during normal streaming, then multiply by 0.72 for a 30-day month of continuous operation. Apply your actual tariff to the resulting kWh for an energy-cost estimate.
How much does it cost to run a PC 24/7 in India?
There is no single reliable rupee answer without the PC’s measured draw and the applicable rate. For example, an assumed 100 W average draw uses 72 kWh over 30 days; multiply that by your marginal per-unit rate, then account separately for any relevant charges. The example is a calculation case, not a claim about a typical PC or a national tariff.
Will my landlord charge commercial rates for a rented room?
Not necessarily. Renting alone does not establish the consumer category or the room’s billing method; check the account category, local rules and any submeter arrangement. Ask what rate is used and whether other charges are included rather than assuming the landlord’s rate matches a published utility tariff.
How can I measure my computer’s electricity use?
Use a compatible plug-in energy meter to measure the PC and any peripherals you want to count while the playlist is running normally. Accumulated kWh over a known number of hours lets you calculate average watts and scale to a month. A momentary reading or PSU label is less useful if the computer’s load varies.