What a NAS costs to run in Canada, by province
By Amara Okonkwo · Reviewed by Claire Bergeron · Updated A four-bay NAS draws about 40 W, or roughly 350 kWh a year. What that costs depends entirely on your province: at Quebec's low residential rate (~7.8¢/kWh) it is about CA$27 a year; at Ontario's ~13¢ around CA$46; at Alberta or Maritime rates (~16–18¢) closer to CA$55–65. The drives, not the CPU, dominate that draw.
The maths, and where the watts go
A NAS runs 24/7, so the yearly figure is watts × 8,760 hours ÷ 1,000 × your rate. A four-bay N100 build or prebuilt idles around 12–15 W without drives; each 3.5-inch NAS drive adds 4–6 W at idle, so four drives bring it to roughly 40 W, or about 350 kWh a year. Spinning drives, not the processor, are the bulk of it.
That means the way to cut running cost is fewer, larger drives — four 16 TB drives draw far less than eight 8 TB drives for the same capacity. The drive-count calculator shows the CA$/TB trade; this page shows the power side.
Yearly cost by province (≈40 W, ≈350 kWh)
Approximate 2026 residential rates — they vary by utility, tier and time of use, so treat these as a guide and check your own bill (-- VERIFY against your latest statement):
- Quebec — about 7.8¢/kWh — about CA$27/year
- Manitoba — about 10¢/kWh — about CA$35/year
- British Columbia — about 11¢/kWh — about CA$39/year
- New Brunswick — about 13¢/kWh — about CA$46/year
- Ontario — about 13¢/kWh (time-of-use average) — about CA$46/year
- Newfoundland — about 14¢/kWh — about CA$49/year
- Saskatchewan — about 15¢/kWh — about CA$53/year
- Alberta — about 16¢/kWh energy (varies widely) — about CA$56/year
- Nova Scotia and PEI — about 17–18¢/kWh — about CA$60–63/year
How to cut the bill
- Fewer, larger drives for the same capacity — the biggest lever.
- Enable drive spin-down / HDD hibernation if the NAS is idle for long stretches (weigh it against wear from frequent spin-ups).
- An efficient 80 Plus Gold PSU on a DIY build — efficiency at low load matters because the box sits at 40–60 W all day.
- SSDs for a small always-on pool if silence and low idle draw matter more than CA$/TB, though hard drives remain far cheaper per terabyte.
Read more
Frequently asked questions
How much does a NAS cost to run per year in Canada?
A four-bay NAS at ~40 W uses ~350 kWh/year. At Quebec's ~7.8¢/kWh that is about CA$27; at Ontario's ~13¢ about CA$46; at Alberta or Maritime rates about CA$55–65. Your province, and your drive count, decide it.
Do NAS drives use a lot of power?
They are the bulk of it. A 3.5-inch NAS drive draws 4–6 W idle, so drives — not the CPU — dominate a NAS's consumption. Fewer, larger drives for the same capacity is the main way to cut the bill.
Does spinning down drives save money?
Some, if the NAS is genuinely idle for long stretches. Weigh the saving against extra wear from frequent spin-ups; for a NAS accessed often through the day, the saving is small.
Amara Okonkwo works out what a NAS costs to run over a year on provincial Canadian hydro rates, and ranks drive prices by Canadian dollars per terabyte, using the site's Amazon.ca price sync.
Reviewed by Claire Bergeron, Editor-in-chief