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Is It Safe To Leave Alexa Playing Music All Day? (2023)

Is It Safe To Leave Alexa Playing Music All Day

Many people use their Alexa device continuously throughout the day.

Whether it is to listen to podcasts, music, or audiobooks, it seems like there’s always a reason to leave Alexa playing for long periods.

Although it’s common practice to leave Alexa continuously on, can you leave her playing music the whole day? 

It is safe to leave Alexa playing music all day because she has been designed to stay on for long periods of time. Leaving Alexa playing music throughout the day does not pose a hazard to your home or your device. 

In this article, I’ll go into more detail about why it’s safe to leave Alexa playing music all day.

Let’s get started!


Why Is It Safe To Leave Alexa Playing Music All Day?


Having your Alexa device on all day playing music can create a pleasant work-from-home environment, or help you enjoy housework more. 

Alexa has been designed to play music safely all day, and this is due to various reasons: 

#1: Alexa has a default standby or sleep mode

Alexa’s default mode is to stand by or sleep. In fact, to set up your Alexa to play music and not shut off after a few hours, you have to disable the standby mode. 

Almost all electronics have a sleep feature, and Alexa devices are no different.

In most cases, this is the device’s default feature because it prevents it from using too much power all at once. 

In addition, during the time that Alexa is being used, it’s not even in full power mode.

The device doesn’t “turn on” until it receives your wake word. It can also turn on when receiving notifications. 

Alexa is designed to be able to be used at all times without ever being unplugged.

This doesn’t mean that the device doesn’t sometimes become overwhelmed and needs to be shut down, but this is unlikely. 

Alexa has a built-in protection feature that allows you to stream music and audio files without having to power the device on fully.

Initially, it will use full power to begin streaming the music, but after about thirty minutes, the device will enter into standby mode. 

The device also has a safety feature to shut off the music after a few hours of playing.

If you don’t intend to use the device all day and just forget to shut it off, you don’t have to worry.

After about three hours, your Alexa will automatically shut off the music. 

You can disable this feature, however. To disable automatic shutting off, follow these steps: 

  1. Open the Alexa app on your smart device. 
  2. Select Auto Mode
  3. Choose what you want Alexa to automatically do or not do, including shutting your music off at certain intervals. 

When Alexa wakes up from sleep mode

Alexa Wakes Up From Sleep Mode

Alexa will stay in the default standby mode until you provide the word to wake it.

This protects the device from using too much power, and it makes sure that Alexa doesn’t accidentally take whatever conversation you’re in the midst of and turn it into a command. 

When you purchased your new Alexa device, you should have set up a wake word. It’s actually what the device interprets as the “time to listen and respond.”

Even if your device is playing music throughout the day, it is playing it in a lower power mode. 

This means that your device isn’t going to become overloaded with information. 

Further reading: (5 Fixes) Alexa Not Hearing Me When Playing Music

#2: Alexa devices use very little power

Alexa devices are built for lower power consumption.

The device will typically use about two watts per hour on standby mode, and six watts per hour when actually putting out audio.

In comparison to many other electrical devices, Alexa uses practically nothing. 

Different Alexa devices use different amounts of power.

Here’s a quick rundown on how much electricity you can expect your Alexa to use while playing music: 

  • Echo Dot. The Echo Dot, the oldest of Alexa devices, uses between 2.1 and 2.4 watts of power per hour. The average usage for this device is 2.25 watts. 
  • 1st Generation Echo. The 1st Generation Echo is the next in line. It uses between 3.1 and 3.4 watts with an average of 3.25 watts.
  • 2nd Generation Echo. The 2nd Generation Echo uses a little less power than the 1st Generation. You can expect it to use between 2.4 and 3.4 watts per hour with an average of 2.9 watts. 
  • Echo Plus. The Echo Plus uses a little more, at between 3.0 and 4.3 watts. The average for this device is 3.65 watts. 
  • Echo Spot. The Echo Spot, the newest of the Alexa devices, uses between 2.6 and 3.2 watts with an average of 2.9 watts. However, this is dependent on the screen brightness. 

While each type of device varies in its power usage, they are relatively the same.

The newest Alexa devices end up using a little more power since they have a display screen.

Overall, however, minimal power is used, and there is no danger of the device having problems because of it. 

You might also be interested in: Alexa vs Echo: What’s The Difference & Do You Need Both?

#3: Alexa devices are built for continuous use

As mentioned previously, all Alexa devices are built to be able to be run on a continuous basis.

It is best for the device if you take some time and allow it to rest at certain intervals, but you’re not likely to encounter issues just by playing music throughout the day. 

The device is designed to stay plugged in at all times as well, and there’s no need to unplug it when you aren’t using it. 

Conclusion

Alexa devices are perfectly safe to leave playing all throughout the day or night if you prefer.

The devices have a built-in sleep or standby mode and will automatically turn off all sounds unless you change the settings to avoid turning off the music.

Even in this case, the device will still go into standby mode.

They use minimal power and it’s not dangerous to leave them on all day.