batterymacbook propower
A while back my Macbook Pro battery started acting up. Now I pretty much have to have it plugged in all the time otherwise it'll turn off. Also, I am getting (replace soon) battery status. I'll change the battery ASAP.
But, I've just noticed that my electricity bill may went up so much because of this. So, Is there a way I can estimate the amount of power I've consumed last 30 days? or is there anyway I can check and estimate?
Thanks
I would look at top -u to see if there are active processes that should not be there.
I would look at the system profile: Apple => About This Mac => More Info... => System Report => Power and see what it says about the battery... In particular the Condition and Cycle Count.
To compare two Macs, be sure the brightness is the same and both are spinning down their disks.
All the information you get from fancy 3d party is already in your system (that is where they get it from anyway).
Open your About This Mac, more info, system report and find Power:
It will tell you all about your battery.
It looks like this on my system:
Normally the Battery will keep a small reserve charge to be able to report its status to the computer. In your case somehow it was sucked dry completely :)
The good news is it is the battery, since your SMC is working and everything else is working based on the message "Replace battery". That same message was probably run all the time during your vacation, till the battery was exhausted to the level were the battery build in chip did not have enough power to talk to your OS. As for what caused that drain? did you leave your computer in a sleep mode ?
Best Answer
I think it's unlikely that your total electricity bill went up significantly because of this. A battery is just an "energy container": the energy it contains came from your wall socket.
If the battery won't hold charge, then the Mac is just using the electricity it needs to run.
If the battery will hold charge, then the Mac is using the electricity it needs to run PLUS refilling the battery. You can of course use the Mac on battery, but then you're recouping the extra you used to fill it.
Let's say your Mac needs 10W to run, and 20W to fill the battery over 2.5 hours. You normally use it for 5 hours a day. With 'no' battery: you use 10W to run it, for 5 hours: 50Wh per day.
With a working battery, you charge up the laptop (while it's off) at 20W for 2.5 hours (50Wh), and then use that charge over 5 hours or so.
Or, you could use it on power for 5 hours, while charging the battery: 30W (running and charging) for 2.5 hours plus 10W (running) for 2.5 hours. That's 100Wh, but now you've got a full battery, which will see you through tomorrow.
TL;DR: Assuming you're spending the same time on your Mac, your energy usage should not change much. But it's worth getting the battery replaced anyway.