Video streaming: how much do they cost us in the bill?

With the arrival of the winter season, nothing better than wrapping yourself up with the cover on the sofa watching your favorite series. But how much do video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, DAZN, Sky and so on? He calculated it Selectra, the service that compares and activates the offers of electricity, gas and internet for companies and individuals.

How much does it cost to watch 2 hours of Netflix a day?

Based on Selectra’s calculation, look at the smart tv each day an episode in streaming lasting about 30 minutes involves an expense of 5.28 euros per year on the free market and 7.44 on the protected one. With the PC the costs are lowered, since they consume less than a TV: from 2.88 euros a year to 4.08 euros. Basically watch series and film in streaming with an average of two hours a day it would cost between 21.12 and 30 euros per year. This obviously without considering the subscription (monthly or yearly) to the streaming platform.

In fact, Selectra calculates, up to 102 kWh per year is consumed (considering a use of 730 hours) and to emit about 41 kg of CO2. This is the same kWh consumption that occurs at home using household appliances such as the electric oven for 52 hours, the vacuum cleaner for 57 hours, the hairdryer for 56 hours, or the washing machine for 110 cycles and the dishwasher for 102 cycles (5 kg of cotton linen at 60 ° or 12 place settings).

Streaming pollutes (a lot)!

Watching or listening to streaming content is harmful to one’s environment because of huge energy consumption that streaming services generate daily to enter users’ homes. The problem is the continuous transfer of the signal from data centers to users’ computers, tablets or smartphones. Sending content virtually requires a significant amount of energy, especially considering the fact that this happens simultaneously (and relentlessly) for millions of people. To function, data centers need energy, and they will need it more and more: in fact, it is estimated that in 2030 13% of the total electricity produced will be absorbed by the data centers, which will be responsible for 6% of carbon dioxide emissions. So it’s not hard to believe that 6 hours of streaming video on Netflix can be equivalent to consuming 1 liter of gasoline, as a study reported by The Conversation. Think about it when, sitting on your sofa, remote control in hand, you click on your favorite TV series, perhaps with the intent of bing watching.