There is no reliable universal monthly winner: EC2 cost depends on the instance, Region, operating system, runtime, storage and networking, while a spare PC’s electricity cost depends on its measured power draw and your local tariff. Compare your own inputs using the formulas below rather than treating an unconfigured cloud estimate or a national electricity average as a personal bill.
What belongs in a fair monthly comparison?
Keep the accounting boundary consistent: this is a comparison of monthly operating costs, not a full lifecycle-cost study. For EC2, include running-instance compute and any applicable storage, data transfer, IP or other configured charges. For a spare PC you already own, calculate the incremental electricity used while it runs the loop. If you also want to include hardware purchase or replacement costs, account for them separately; the available figures do not establish a universal PC acquisition cost.
- EC2: Region, operating system, instance type, runtime, EBS storage, transfer and IP configuration affect the estimate. AWS says On-Demand EC2 compute is billed from launch until stopping or termination; for several listed operating systems, including Linux, billing is per second with a 60-second minimum. A stopped instance does not accrue running-instance time, although associated resources can still incur charges. See AWS EC2 On-Demand Pricing.
- Spare PC: Measure average wall power during playback and use the electricity rate on your own bill or applicable tariff.
- Runtime: Use the same monthly operating hours for both options. A 24/7 loop has more runtime than a scheduled stream, and the inputs should reflect the schedule you actually intend to run.
Calculate the spare PC’s electricity cost
Use average wall watts, not a guessed processor rating or power-supply label. A plug-in electricity meter can help measure the running computer at the wall; measure under the workload and settings you plan to use. This is a calculation method, not a measured result for a particular machine.
- Measure the PC’s average wall draw during video playback, in watts. If power varies substantially, observe it over a representative period rather than relying on a momentary reading.
- Calculate monthly energy:
monthly kWh = average wall watts Ă· 1,000 Ă— hours running per month. - Multiply by your local electricity price:
electricity cost = monthly kWh Ă— local price per kWh.
For a national point of reference—not a substitute for your tariff—the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 2025 average residential electricity price of 17.30¢/kWh, based on preliminary February 2026 Electric Power Monthly data. The EIA’s 2025 average across all customer types ranged from 8.20¢/kWh in North Dakota to 35.72¢/kWh in Hawaii; that is not a residential-only state range. Local prices can differ substantially. See the EIA’s electricity price explanation and annual figures.
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Estimate EC2’s monthly cost
Use the current rate for the configuration you would actually run. Let H be monthly runtime hours, P the selected EC2 instance’s hourly rate for its Region and operating system, S monthly storage and other configuration charges, and D applicable transfer and network charges:
EC2 monthly estimate = H Ă— P + S + D
Add any other charges applicable to the chosen setup. AWS’s estimate inputs include Region, operating system, instance, utilization, storage, transfer and IP settings. Build the configuration in the AWS Pricing Calculator EC2 estimate guide, then check rates and terms on AWS’s pricing page. The result is only as accurate as the assumptions and current settings entered.
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AWS states that 100 GB of internet data transfer out per month is free in aggregate across AWS services and Regions, except China and GovCloud; applicable additional transfer can be charged by volume and tier. Do not assume that a particular stream’s outbound traffic will fit within that allowance: total account usage, architecture and current terms matter. Model transfer after defining the setup.
Put both estimates side by side
Once you have machine-specific and configuration-specific inputs, compare the resulting monthly operating costs:
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| Option | Monthly operating-cost calculation | Inputs to establish |
|---|---|---|
| AWS EC2 | H Ă— P + S + D, plus any other charges that apply |
Runtime; Region; instance and OS rate; storage; transfer; IP and other configured resources |
| Spare PC you already own | (W Ă· 1,000) Ă— H Ă— R |
Average wall watts W; monthly hours H; local electricity price per kWh R |
Do not substitute an assumed “typical” EC2 rate or PC wattage: neither is established for this workload. The break-even point cannot be stated without shared runtime assumptions and actual local/configuration inputs. If the PC is already owned, its purchase price is sunk for this narrow monthly comparison; if you are deciding whether to buy one, include that acquisition and eventual replacement separately.
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