When I first got my Fire TV stick I noticed it came with a power cord. And I wondered whether I needed to use it, and how long the charge would last when it isn’t plugged in. So, I looked into the specifications and tried it myself, and found some pretty interesting things.
So, how much power does a Firesitck need? The Fire TV stick doesn’t have an internal battery so it needs to be plugged into the wall 100% of the time. The Amazon Fire TV stick is powered by a Micro USB charger and needs about 1 amp of power. If it gets much less than this and it won’t work properly.
There is also the option to plug the micro-USB cord from your Firestick into the USB port on your TV or receiver. But, some TV and received models don’t output enough power. So, read on to discover how to check if this option will work for you on your TV to save space.
Can You Plug the USB Cable For Your Fire TV Stick Into Your TV or Receiver To Power It?
As you may be aware micro USB cables can plug into computers, TVs, and receivers. Because they fit perfectly. But, many of these ports are primarily made for sending and receiving files and information between each device.
And some only send about half the required power to the device to charge and power them. So, when you want to power your Fire TV stick by plugging the power cord in the micro USB port you want to make sure that it is the kind of port that gives it enough power.
An easy way to tell is by how well your Fire TV stick works when you plug it into the USB port. It will start to slow down and struggle to load the apps quickly. This will be a clear sign that your USB port isn’t supplying enough power.
Different USB Ports Supply Different Amounts Of Power
You can try a different port if you have one nearby, say on the receiver. And some TVs and receivers can have more than one USB port, which provides different amounts of power. So, give any ports you have available.
Many people have reported that some older TVs only supply 0.5 Amps of power which is only half of what is needed, and slows down your Fire TV stick. But, some TV and receiver models have 1.0 Amp USB ports.
If none of them work the best thing to do is to plug it into the wall. That way your Fire TV stick will be very fast, and easier to use.
As the storage on your Fire TV stick is almost full, your Fire TV stick will start to slow down a bit. And you may notice it takes longer to load apps, and search for TV shows, and movies.
This could be another reason why your Fire TV stick is running slow, that isn’t because of the power source.
So, just double-check the memory on the Fire TV stick to make sure it’s not too full. Here’s a quick video that explains exactly how to do that from your Fire TV Home screen.
Does The Fire TV Stick Need to Be Plugged In All The Time?
The Fire TV stick doesn’t have an internal battery so it needs to be plugged in all the time. Although it is plugged into the HDMI port it doesn’t supply any power, according to Solidsignal.com. So, it needs to be plugged in the micro USB power cord which comes with it.
Should I Unplug My Amazon Fire TV Stick When I’m Not Using It?
It uses hardly any power, and there are no drawbacks to leaving it on. But, if you turn it off. When you want to use it again you will have to wait for it to start up.
So, in my opinion, it’s better to leave it on all the time. But, if you only watch it once a week, or less then I would turn it off. Because it won’t be such a big deal for you to wait for it to start up when you don’t watch it as often.
Is It Ok to Leave A Fire TV Stick Plugged Into the TV When You’re Not Using It?
Yes, it’s absolutely fine to leave it plugged into the HDMI port of your TV when you’re not using your Fire TV stick. But, if you aren’t using it for a long time, you’ll want to unplug the power supply. Because it will use a small amount of power, that isn’t really needed since you aren’t using it.
How Much Power Does a Firestick Use?
According to FlatpanelsHD.com the Fire TV stick uses 2.0W in standby mode, and 3.8W when streaming. It uses the most power – 5.0W when you are gaming, and uses a surprising 3.0W when you are scrolling around the menus.
Other appliances use:
| Appliance | Power Usage in Watts (W) |
| TV | 200 |
| Computer | 400 |
| Laptop | 100 |
| Blender | 500 |
| Electric Kettle | 1200 |
As you can see it uses a tiny tiny percentage of the power most appliances use. So, you can safely leave it on all the time without affecting your power bill at all.
When you record from your Fire TV stick to your Amazon Fire Recast my opinion is that it will use a bit more power. Because it is using up the processing power of the Firestick in the background.
If you’re new to recording on your Firestick I wrote a whole article about the different options for recording TV shows, and movies from your Firestick. You can read that full article by clicking here: Can You Record on a Fire TV Stick? go to the article.
Do I Need A Power Adapter for A Fire TV Stick?
The Amazon Fire TV stick comes with a power adapter that plugs your Firestick into a power outlet. So, you don’t need to purchase one separately. But, you’re Firestick does need to be plugged into a power supply at all times when in use or on standby.
The power cord has an end that is a micro USB and the other end is a USB. So, you can technically plug the USB end into the TV or a receiver. But, some of the ports of TVs and receivers aren’t made for powering devices. And are only made for sending and receiving data between devices such as smartphones and tablets.
So, you’ll need to test out whether your Fire TV stick works properly when you plug it into the USB port on your TV or receiver. Some USB ports give the required power (1 Amp), but others only give 0.5 Amps.
When it doesn’t give enough power it will run slowly, and you can get a ‘low power’ error message on the Fire TV stick home screen.
Conclusion
A Firestick needs about 1 Amp of power to work properly. You get this amount of power by plugging it into the wall using the power adapter that comes with it. If you plug your FireTV stick into a USB port rather than the wall using the cable then it might not work properly.
Many USB ports are designed to be used to send information back and forth and not for designated charging or power. So, they often only run at about 0.50 Amps. Which isn’t enough for your Firestick to work properly. You will get a warning message that there isn’t enough power, or it will start to run slowly.