Noob electricity question

[mc8113]

I'm pretty new to mining and have a question. I see a lot of talk about electricity as a cost of mining. Is this a cost of having the computer on vs off? In other words, if my computer is is mining using the GPU, does it use more electricity than if I'm using my computer for everyday stuff like email, web surfing, etc? I'm confused on this subject. I leave my computer on just about 24/7, so does that cost the same as mining 24/7?

[how-high]

depending on your card(s) you will use a lot more electricity

[mc8113]

Well, if that's the case, how does one actually figure out how much more electricity mining is costing over and above just having the computer on?

[mastazeko]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-17.html

some info for idle vs gaming power consumption. look under gaming so you can see what to expect...

[kalnas]

Well, if that's the case, how does one actually figure out how much more electricity mining is costing over and above just having the computer on?

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389645612&sr=8-1&keywords=kill-a-watt