Of late, the number of customers using the Starlink internet is increasing. Its high internet speed is the reason for the rising number of subscribers. Starlink is an internet service known for providing high speeds to users in populated, rural, and geographically isolated areas.
The Starlink network consists of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. Starlink internet service provider sends internet signals to the satellites in space. The signal is then supplied to your Starlink dish on top of your house. The dish is connected to your Starlink router or mesh network, which finally covers your entire house with an internet signal.
A constellation of Starlink satellites is still being added to the sky to make up the full network across all parts of the world. Currently, Starlink is available in 54 countries, with more than one million subscribers. It is by no means an affordable internet service.
However, when it comes to power consumption, many consumers still are wondering whether they are at risk of a pricier energy bill if they subscribe to the internet service. As a potential user intending to adopt Starlink internet, you may need to pay a little more attention about the effect of Starlink internet on your electricity bills.
This article discusses the power consumption for the Starlink internet network and how you can minimize consumption.
How much electricity does Starlink use?
The amount of electricity that your Starlink internet consumes depends on the type of the dish you have.
Starlink has two generations of standard internet dishes (first-generation standard dish and the second-generation standard dish) for residential and mobile users.
There is also a Starlink RV dish, which is available to people who want to use Starlink in plans, boats, cars, and other vehicles or off the grid.
Also, there is a more expensive and advanced high performance dish designed for the maritime and business customers and as options for the residential customers and mobile customers.
In last 2021, Starlink stopped manufacturing the first-gen standard dish, and instead introduced the second gen standard rectangular dish for public use. The second gen smaller, rectangular dishes are more efficient than the first gen larger, circler dishes.
Although Starlink discontinued their supply, the first-gen standard dishes are still popular among home users. They are still available and you can still use them without any problem.
First-generation standard dish
A first-gen dish consumes about 60-110 watts and pulls up a voltage of 2.5 amps (A) current when operating on 100-240 AC power at 50-60 HZ. However, the dishes’ power consumption increases during cold weather and may rise up to 160 watts.
However, during the low-traffic or inactive phase, a first-gen dish consumes less power of an average of roughly 30-40 watts and pulls up round 5 amps while running on the standard power supply. During night hours, the dish further reduces its power usage to about 20-30 watts at the 100-240 AC power supply.
The second generation standard dish
The second gen standard dish is more efficient than the first-gen dish. It has lower power ratings – its consumption is around 50-75 watts, running on a power supply of 100-240V AC at 50-60 Hz and pulls up to 2 amps.
However, during cold weather, the second gen dishes’ power consumption may rise up to 160 watts. During the low traffic or inactive phase, the dish decreases its power consumption to an average of 30-40 watts, running on 100-240 AC power at 50-60 Hz and draws up to 5 amps.
The Starlink RV dish
A Starlink RV dish normally consumes 1kWh of electricity daily. Generally, Starlink’s RV dishes and standard dishes consume the same amount of power when dormant and active.
High performance dish
A high performance dish consumes 110 to 150 watts while operating on a power supply of 100 – 240V at 50-60 HZ, and pulling a higher current of 4.5 amps. When inactive, a high performance dish reduces its power consumption rate to an average of 40 to 50 watts.
Factors affecting Starlink power consumption
Since you receive an energy bill every month, you almost already know how much energy you’re being charged for your Starlink power consumption. But since every house is constructed and lived in differently, each will consume a different amount of power.
In order to understand why your house uses more or less energy for Starlink power usage, it is important to understand the factors that affect your power consumption for Starlink internet usage. These include:
Network activity
Your network consumption is the major factor contributing to how much power your Starlink internet uses. Similar to other internet devices, the number of devices connected to your Starlink router and their data requirements affects Starlink’s power consumption.
The more devices you connect to the router, the more they consume data. As a result, the Starlink dish and router will demand more electricity to send and receive signals from the satellites. Activities (such as playing video games, doing video calls, streaming videos, and downloading large files) consume more electricity. However, making phone calls, browsing the internet, sending emails, and others consume less power.
Weather
Starlink functions well in most weather conditions. However, extreme conditions (like heavy thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and thick clouds) can affect the way your Starlink internet consumes electricity. In fact, when such extreme weather conditions prevail, your Starlink internet consumes high electricity as it tries to obtain signal from the satellites.
Bad weather normally obstructs signals, leading to your Starlink internet to use higher electricity consumption. In such cases, the Starlink dish sends stronger signals to be efficient, and this demands more electricity.
Ambient temperature
The environmental temperature also affects the way your Starlink dish consumes electricity. The Starlink dish consumes more electricity during cold temperatures than high temperatures.
Snowstorm
Snowstorm also affects the way your Starlink internet consumes power. The Starlink dish has a snow melting feature that triggers it to receive stronger signals during snowstorm events. The snow melting feature (an inbuilt heater in the dish) melts the residue ice or snow by heating the dish surface. You can set this feature on, off, or automatic through the Starlink app on your smartphone. Once the snow melts, the obstructions between the dish and the satellite clears out and therefore signals are restored.
Obstructions
Natural obstructions like trees, mountains, and hills can also affect Starlink signals and its power consumption. Such physical obstructions between the Starlink dish and the satellites hinder the sending and receiving of signals. As a result, the dish uses more electricity when attempting to reconnect with the satellites in the sky.
Location of the Starlink dish
The location of your Starlink dish with respect to the Starlink satellites is another factor that can affect your internet’s power consumption.
The Starlink satellites don’t orbit the earth, they move freely and are not in a fixed position. As a result, your Starlink dish often changes its connection. It always connects with the satellite near it. The frequency of such connection and disconnection normally trigger your internet to consume higher power.
However, since many Starlink satellites move in the sky, the location issue is not a huge threat. But those living in areas experiencing poor satellite coverage are prone to consume higher energy.
Does Starlink use a lot of power?
The above illustration shows that Starlink power consumption is generally low. However, compared to a normal Wi-Fi router, Starlink router consumes more electricity.
While Starlink standard routers use around 50-75 watts, normal Wi-Fi routers consume about 5-20W power.
As explained above, a Starlink standard router consumes an average electricity cost of 1 kW/h per day. Therefore, the total monthly electricity cost to use the Starlink router is 1 kW/h x 30 (day) = $30.00.
Although Starlink internet is more expensive, it offers a lot of value, especially to those who live in remote regions. Starlink was mainly designed to cater for the needs of people living in rural and geographically isolated areas, to help them enjoy almost similar connection to users living in urban places.
How to reduce your Starlink electricity usage
You can take advantage of a Starlink feature called “sleep schedule” to control your power usage. By putting your dish into “sleep mode,” the power consumption rate reduces by 25 watts.
You can also unplug the hardware whenever the internet is not in use, for example when traveling. This will help decrease power usage.
You can also buy direct current power over an Ethernet (DC PoE) injector. You can reduce the electricity usage by 50% when you change the power from AC to DC. However, such modification may strip off your warranty.
My Final Thoughts
As you can see Starlink does not consume too much electricity. A standard internet dish for residential and mobile users consumes a range of 50-75W.
It’s not wrong to say that Starlink internet is an environment-friendly and efficient network. But as you can see, the actual power consumption of Starlink can vary, depending on the specific dish you are using and the prevailing conditions existing in the midst of your setup.
Understanding all these can help you set up your hardware equipment in an area that’s suitable for optimal efficiency and cut down power consumption