Energy consumption in ESP32

Knowing and understanding the power consumption of the ESP32 is very important before embarking on a project with it.

In any electronics project, power consumption is one of the main parameters that significantly influences the design and execution.

This is even more important in the case of the ESP32, as it is a SoC designed for IoT applications. They typically operate continuously or depend on limited power sources, such as batteries.

The ESP32 is a very powerful SoC, with wireless communication options. So, at full power, it consumes quite a bit of energy. You can leave any “bare” battery for hours.

Factors Influencing Energy Consumption

Operating Modes

The ESP32 offers several operating modes that influence its energy consumption.

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Clock Frequency

The ESP32 allows adjusting the processor clock frequency to reduce power consumption. By lowering the frequency, the processor executes instructions at a slower pace, which decreases energy consumption.

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Peripherals and Communications

Power consumption is also influenced by the peripherals and communications used. For example, enabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other peripherals consumes more energy than keeping them turned off.

Energy Consumption in the ESP32

Let’s look at the standard consumption values of the “conventional” ESP32 (without a version behind it), in different operating modes.

Consumption with radio on

Consumption with different types of wireless communication.

Consumption with radio off

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, only the consumption related to processing by the CPU.

Consumption in sleep modes

Consumption in different sleep modes.

Energy Consumption in the ESP32-S3

Here are the standard consumption values of the ESP32-S3 in different operating modes.

Consumption with radio on

Consumption with different types of wireless communication.

Consumption with radio off

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, only the consumption related to processing by the CPU.

Consumption in sleep modes

Consumption in different sleep modes.