How we work it out
There's no government energy-rating registry for routers or modems the way there is for fridges, TVs or air conditioners, so the wattage here comes from a direct, sourced measurement rather than GEMS: comparison site MyConnect puts a typical home wireless router or modem at 7–10 W. Unlike almost everything else on this site, that draw runs the full 24 hours of every day, not just a few hours of use, because there's no realistic ‘off’ setting that doesn't also take down the home internet. Watts ÷ 1,000 gives kilowatts, times 24 hours, times 365 days, times your state's rate.
Worked example: a typical router (8.5 W) running 24 hours a day in NSW: 0.0085 kW × 24 h = 0.204 kWh a day × 32.4¢ = about 7 cents a day, or roughly $24 a year, for a device that's never actually switched off.
The one appliance that's never really off
Every other calculator on this site has an hours-per-day field, because almost everything gets switched off at some point: the TV, the aircon, even the fridge cycles its compressor on and off. A router doesn't, since flicking it off at the wall also takes down the home internet, so its standby draw is effectively its entire running cost, all year, every year. See what standby power quietly costs Australians for how that stacks up against the rest of a typical home's standby load.
Is it worth buying a newer, lower-power router?
Only if the old one is actually failing or badly outdated. The gap between a 7 W and a 10 W router is worth a few dollars a year on current rates, real money over a decade but not enough on its own to justify replacing a working device. It's a different story if you're already upgrading for speed or coverage: worth checking the new model's rated draw sits at the low end of the range rather than the high end.
Common questions
Does switching my router off overnight save money?
A little, but it's rarely practical: most home internet plans, smart-home devices and phone apps expect the connection to stay up, and manually switching it back on every morning is a habit few people keep. If you genuinely don't need internet overnight, switching it off at the wall for 8 hours would cut this calculator's daily figure by about a third.
How much power does a router actually use?
Comparison site MyConnect puts a typical home wireless router or modem at 7–10 W, continuous, modest next to a kettle or heater but adds up because it never stops running, unlike almost anything else in the house.
Is a router the biggest standby power user in the house?
Usually, yes, now that TVs and games consoles have much lower standby draw on modern hardware. See our standby power guide for the full comparison against the rest of a typical home.
Does a mesh WiFi kit cost more to run than a single router?
This calculator prices one unit. A mesh satellite is a full wireless router in its own right, not a passive repeater, so each extra satellite adds roughly another router's worth of running cost: a typical 3-node kit (one router plus two satellites) costs about $41 to $57 a year more than a single unit, depending on your state. See do mesh WiFi satellites cost more to run? for the full state-by-state figures.
What this costs, state by state
A typical wireless router or modem left switched on 24 hours a day, because there's no realistic 'off' setting that doesn't also kill the internet.
| State | Rate | Per day | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 32.4¢ | 7¢ | $24.13 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | 6¢ | $22.19 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | 6¢ | $23.23 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | 8¢ | $28.37 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | 7¢ | $25.02 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | 6¢ | $21.52 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | 6¢ | $20.40 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | 6¢ | $23.60 |
Reference rates for 2026–27. Your row is highlighted once you set your location.
Sources
Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer (NSW, SA, south-east QLD), Victorian Default Offer, and each remaining state's regulated tariff, current for 2026–27. Appliance figures: the energyrating.gov.au registration database (July 2026 snapshot). Methods and assumptions are described on each page.