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Measure Raspberry Pi power consumption

Last Updated on May 19, 2020 by Kalitut 1 Comment

how to Measure Raspberry Pi power consumption

There are many different statements and statements about the power consumption of Raspberry Pi. One or the other has actually measured the power consumption times. And now these values are haunting in forums and on blogs. Unfortunately, these measurements are of little help if it is not known how and what was measured accurately.

Both the measurement and the measurement result must then be viewed critically. Usually, such a result is worthless if nothing is known about the results of the measurement. To make things worse, each measurement results must always be interpreted correctly.

Measure Raspberry Pi power

Measurement setup
To Measure Raspberry Pi power consumption Each measurement requires a defined measurement setup. This is the only way to ensure that a measurement returns the same values at a later date. Once the measurement setup has been documented, you can later retrace the measured values without having to repeat the measurement.

  • Raspberry Pi Model A, A+, B (Rev. 2), B+, RPi 2 B, RPi Zero and for comparison an Odroid-C1
  • Power adapter: USB power adapter with 5V / 2.1A
  • SD card: Noname microSDHC / Class 10/8 GB
  • Screen: HDMI monitor
  • WiFi Adapter 1: Noname USB 2.0 Wireless / IEEE 802.11n / Chipset Ralink 5370
  • WiFi Adapter 2: Noname USB 2.0 Wireless / IEEE 802.11n / Chipset Ralink 5372
  • Keyboard: Hama Slim Line SL 640 (5V / 0.5A max.)
  • Mouse: Noname Optical Wheel Mouse (5V / 50mA)

This measurement setup provides that the measurement is done behind the power supply that powers Raspberry Pi. The reason is that the power supply has a self-consumption, which depends on the power supply and current consumption and falsifies the measured values. Interesting is the pure power consumption of Raspberry Pi with possibly connected components.

To avoid a measurement error caused by different memory cards, a microSDHC card was used as the storage medium for all measurements. This is necessary because Raspberry Pi B+ does not accept standard SD cards. For this reason, the microSDHC card with an SD card adapter was used in the A and B models.

Meter: USB Power Meter from PortaPow
The meter is a PortaPow Premium USB + DC Power Monitor. This allows you to simultaneously measure voltage, current, and power at a USB port. For this purpose, the power monitor is looped into the power supply of Raspberry Pi. For this purpose, the Power Monitor has a USB-A plug and a USB-A socket. The meter has its own power supply and does not load the USB power adapter.

Data logging
In each case voltage, current and power were measured. The current was measured twice. Once during the boot process. The current value was continuously observed when fluctuating. The highest value was recorded (current peak).
The second measurement of the current took place after the boot process was completed, the login was displayed and Raspberry Pi was not used. So in the logged-out state and no additional active software or users. In this case, the meter showed the measured values without fluctuation.
The tension was usually between 5.11 and 5.16 V. The higher the current drain, the more the voltage is pressed. The value is not exciting unless you want to calculate the power.
The power is computationally a product of voltage and current. It will be displayed by the meter at the same time. Unfortunately mathematically not quite correct, which is certainly due to the tolerance. But that’s not so tragic in the second and third places after the decimal point. This inaccuracy is barely acceptable.

Measurement 1: Raspberry Pi naked
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated completely without any other connected devices.

ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi A5,157 v0,116 A0.603 W0.198 A
RPi A +5,160 v0.085 A0.438 W0.150 A
RPi Zero5,166 v0.084A0.433 W0.170 A
RPi B5,139 v0,341 A1,752 W0.422 A
RPi B +5,150 v0.203 A1,045 W0,264 A
RPi 2 B5,151 v0.199 A1.025 W0,345 A
ODROID-C15,152 v0.192 A0.989 W0.443 a

In the ground state, the B+ model consumes about 140mA or 700mW less than the B model.

Raspberry P 2 B does not differ significantly from the B+ model. Most economical are the model Raspberry Pi Zero and A+.

Measurement 2: Raspberry Pi with Ethernet
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was connected to the local network via Ethernet. This is referred to as the headless operation, in which ,Raspberry Pi is operated without a screen and keyboard. Over the network one can build an SSH connection and operate the Raspberry Pi remotely. In this measurement, the SSH connection was only briefly tested for accessibility.

ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi Ano ethernet port
RPi A +no ethernet port
RPi Zerono ethernet port
RPi B5,134 v0.400 A2,053 W0.483 A
RPi B +5,146 v0,242 A1.245 W0.308 A
RPi 2 B5.147 v0.237 A1.224 W0.424 A
ODROID-C15,146 v0.225 A1,148 W0.485 A

The power consumption of the Ethernet port is 20mA lower on the B+ model than on the B model.

Because the models A, A+ and Zero have no Ethernet port, this measurement makes no sense for these models.

Measurement 3: Raspberry Pi with WiFi adapter
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated with a wireless adapter in headless mode. A connection to the WiFi was not configured.
Two different WiFi adapters for the USB are available for this measurement. The first is one in nano-construction. The second one is bigger and has an external antenna.

ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi A5,148 v0,221 A1,143 W0.300 A
RPi A +5,151 v0.185 A0.958 W0.247 A
RPi Zero5,129 v0.179 A0.918 W0.263 A
RPi B5,131 v0.445 A2,277 W0.510 A
RPi B +5.141 v0.300 A1.537 W0.354 A
RPi 2 B5,143 v0.294 A1,512 W0.406 A
ODROID-C15.141 v0.288 A1,486 W0.526 A
ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi A5,143 v0.295 A1,522 W0.357 AA
RPi A +5,146 v0.254 A1,312 W0.307 A
RPi Zero5,127 v0,241 A1.245 W0.318 A
RPi B5.125V0.515 A2,639 W0.571 A
RPi B +5,137 v0.368 A1,890W0.509 A
RPi 2 B5,137 v0.368 A1,890W0.463 A
ODROID-C15,137 v0.353 A1,818 W0.606 A

The second WiFi adapter uses around 60 to 70mA more power.

Measurement 4: Raspberry Pi with monitor and keyboard (normal operation 1)
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated with an HDMI monitor and keyboard. Connection to the local network via Ethernet or WiFi was not provided for this measurement.

ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi A5,146 v0.239 A1,229 W0.312 A
RPi A +5,150 v0.204 A1,050 W0.271 A
RPi Zero5,129 v0.089 A0.451 W0.204 A
RPi B5,126 v0.465 A2.384 W0.553 A
RPi B +5,136 v0.329 A1,689 W0.391 A
RPi 2 B5.141 v0.321 A1,650 W0,508 A
ODROID-C15,138 v0.368 A1,891 W0.604 A

Here, Raspberry Pi Zero had the effect that nonuse of the keyboard did not result in power consumption. When using the keyboard, the power consumption increased by about 20 mA.

Measurement 5: Raspberry Pi with monitor, keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet (normal operation 2)
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated with a VGA monitor, keyboard and mouse. To use the monitor, an HDMI to VGA adapter was used. The connection to the local network was made via Ethernet.

ModelTensionElectricityPowerCurrent (peak)
RPi Aonly one USB port and no Ethernet port
RPi A +only one USB port and no Ethernet port
RPi Zeroonly one USB port and no Ethernet port
RPi B5,120 v0.590 A3,090 W0.649 A
RPi B +5,134 v0.431 A2,211 W0.460 A
RPi 2 B5,131 v0.426 A2,085 W0.571 A
ODROID-C15,122 v0.552A2,827 W0.748 A

Note: In this case, the current was measured while the mouse was being moved. If the mouse is at rest, the power consumption was reduced by approx. 32 mA.

Measurement 6: Raspberry Pi at approx. 1% CPU utilization
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated with a VGA monitor, keyboard and mouse. To use the monitor, an HDMI to VGA adapter was used. The connection to the local network was made via Ethernet.
During the measurement recording, it was ensured that “top” displayed almost 1% CPU utilization.

ModelTensionElectricityPerformance (measured)
RPi B5,121 v0.558 A2,857 W
RPi B +5,134 v0.401 A2,053 W
RPi 2 B5,133 v0.393 A2,058 W

Measurement 7: Raspberry Pi at approx. 100% CPU utilization
In this measurement, Raspberry Pi was operated with a VGA monitor, keyboard and mouse. To use the monitor, an HDMI to VGA adapter was used. The connection to the local network was made via Ethernet.
During the measurement recording, it was ensured that “top” displayed almost 100% CPU utilization. CPU usage was triggered with “sudo apt-get update” and “sudo apt-get upgrade”.

ModelTensionElectricityPerformance (measured)
RPi B5,119 v0.648 A3,317 W
RPi B +5,136 v0.494 A2,537 W

Summary of Measure Raspberry Pi power consumption

  • Raspberry Pi Zero uses less power. 
  • The B+ model consumes between 100 and 150 mA less power than the B model. That’s between 500 and 700 mW.
  • The difference in power consumption between about 1% and about 100% CPU utilization is about 90 to 100 mA. Both model B+ and model B.
  • The differences between RPi B+ and RPi 2 B are found at the second digit after the comma.

Make sure to have a look at our list of best Raspberry Pi power supply

Filed Under: Raspberry Pi Tagged With: Measure Raspberry Pi power

Comments

  1. SAROJ k PANDA says

    July 18, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    Could you please advice, how to measure the energy consumption of Rasberry Pi 4 Model B, which is directly connected to the electric power supply through software?

    Reply

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