Europeans regularly experience significant price disparities for similar products or services depending on the country. At SHADOW, we have looked at the costs of energy and internet subscriptions across Europe. And the impact that a Shadow PC subscription can have on these bills. This reasoning, called "Total Cost of Ownership", can be replicated on all our devices and reflects the reality that owning a device incurs costs not only at purchase but throughout the life of the device.
The results are glaring and this could well accelerate in 2023.
First and foremost, let us explain how we went about this study carried out internally:
Our calculator was developed by a brilliant Shadow employee (whose name we will keep secret to avoid any "getting a big head" effect), who collected the price of internet subscriptions and the price of electricity per kWh for a household in 10 European countries where Shadow is currently available*. Here is the detail of the method for this comparison:
For energy consumption: we calculated the difference in amount, on the electricity bill of a physical PC with the Shadow PC configuration, with the amount generated by a Shadow PC running on a low-end PC.
For the internet subscription: we calculated the difference between the price of a subscription with the recommended connection to use your Shadow (30-100 Mbps) and the price of a subscription to a connection comparable to that included in your Shadow PC**. In both cases, the cheapest offers per country in each category were selected.
Based on current energy costs, a Shadow PC subscription can save an average of 3.7€ per month or 44.4€ per year*** in Spain or Italy. That's the equivalent of almost a month and a half of Shadow PC subscription! In Germany, a Shadow PC subscriber can save an average of 3.9€ per month or 46.8€ per year***. And if you are a lucky user of the Power Upgrade, it's even more interesting: -9.2€ on the overall bill each month or 110.4€ saved over the year**** in Spain, 111.6€ per year in Italy; 148.8€ per year in Germany; 75,6€ in France.
And the European champion is…Belgium! The savings for our dear Belgian friends can go up to 339.6€ over 12 months****. It's quite simple: a Shadow user will realize, in one year, a saving equivalent to 11.3 months of subscription to the Shadow PC offer. How's that for a good deal?
Some figures in bulk:
- On average, over the 10 countries studied, Shadow PC can save its users 40.8€ per year;
- This amount even climbs to 43.2€ saved annually for subscribers to the Power Upgrade;
- The highest potential savings on the energy bill comes from Denmark, with an average measured savings of 164.4€ annually by subscribing to Shadow PC + Power Upgrade
- The record for potential savings on the internet bill comes from Belgium, with 24.2€ per month saved, for a total of 290.4€ per year less on the bill.
Want to save even more on your energy bills? We have developed a version of our application for the Raspberry Pi, one of the most energy-efficient PCs on the market. To find out how the Shadow PC + Raspberry Pi combination works, read our dedicated article here.
And for those who would like to accumulate discounts, our referral system can also lower the bill, this time directly on the price of the Shadow PC subscription.
* France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain.
** Or, if it is not possible to purchase a subscription with speeds comparable to those of the Shadow PC, the subscription offering the best available speed
*** Difference in power consumption costs (including all taxes) for a 100W (Shadow PC on a budget laptop) and 300W (mid-level gaming installation) installation with an average usage of 60 hours per month. Source for household electricity costs: Eurostat, H1 2022
**** Difference in energy consumption costs (including all taxes) for a configuration with a 100W power supply (Shadow Power Upgrade on a budget laptop) versus 600W (high-end gaming setup) with 60 hours of usage per month. Source for household electricity costs: Eurostat, H1 2022
***** Difference in internet subscription costs (EUR/PPP) between a 30-100Mbps connection and a >200Mbps connection, for each case the cheapest provider has been selected. Source: Eurostat 2021