How Many kWh Does a Home Security Camera System (4 cameras + DVR) Use?
Home Security Camera System (4 cameras + DVR) energy cost calculator — see your exact daily, monthly, and yearly electricity cost.
US national average. Edit for your local rate.
Daily Energy Use
1.44
kWh / day
Monthly Cost
$8.13
Yearly Cost
$98.97
Home Security Camera System (4 cameras + DVR) — Cost Breakdown
| Period | kWh Used | Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Per Hour | 0.0600 | $0.0113 |
| Per Day | 1.44 | $0.27 |
| Per Month (30 days) | 43.20 | $8.13 |
| Per Year (365 days) | 525.60 | $98.97 |
Running a 4-camera security system all day uses about the same energy as running a ceiling fan on medium for 20 hours.
3 Ways to Cut Your Home Security Camera System (4 cameras + DVR) Energy Bill
- 🌱
Enable motion-activated recording instead of continuous recording — it reduces DVR hard drive writes and processing power.
- 💡
Use PoE (Power over Ethernet) cameras to centralize power delivery and eliminate individual camera power adapters.
- ⚡
Lower the resolution to 1080p for most cameras — 4K recording uses 2–3× more processing power and storage.
Security cameras and DVRs are solid-state electronics drawing stable, consistent wattage with no motor surge.