https://www.thinkwiki.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=SLXViper 2026-05-11T13:59:54Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.31.12 https://www.thinkwiki.org/w/index.php?title=How_to_measure_power_consumption&diff=30207 2007-06-01T15:50:08Z

<p>SLXViper: </p> <hr /> <div>==Direct measurement during operation==<br /> To monitor the laptop's power consumption while it is running, unplug the AC power and run:<br /> :{{cmdroot|watch -n1 'cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/*'}}<br /> <br /> This requires ACPI to be enabled. The value given is (roughly) an averge over the last minute.<br /> <br /> Alternatively, load the [[tp_smapi]] module and run the following with AC power unplugged:<br /> :{{cmdroot|watch -n1 'cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_now'}}<br /> or<br /> :{{cmdroot|watch -n1 'cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_avg'}}<br /> <br /> The former provides the instantaneous power draw, and the latter is (roughly) an average over the last minute. It's OK to use [[tp_smapi]]'s &lt;tt&gt;force_discharge&lt;/tt&gt; function instead of physically disconnecting AC power.<br /> <br /> Note that running on battery power may activate power-saving mechanisms, so unless you take care to deactivate them this does not reflect power consumption under AC power.<br /> <br /> ==Measurement script==<br /> See [[Script_for_monitoring_power_consumption]].<br /> <br /> ==Measurement for synthetic workloads==<br /> Use the [http://bltk.sourceforge.net Battery Life Tool Kit] tool.<br /> <br /> ==Measurement during suspend==<br /> To measure power consumption while the laptop is suspended, use the [[ACPI sleep power drain test script]].<br /> <br /> ==Hardware-measurement on line or ac-adapter==<br /> The best (imho) method to measure power consumption is to measure the power drawn by the laptop from the ac-adapter or the power drawn by the ac-adapter itself by a wattmeter. If you want to measure drawn only by the laptop itself, you'll have to build a little adapter.<br /> <br /> ==See also==<br /> For reducing power consumption, see [[How to reduce power consumption]].</div>

SLXViper