Linear Motion Energy Consumption Calculator + Formula, Examples & Applications

If you're running an actuator off a battery — solar gate, boat hatch, off-grid vent — you need to know exactly how much energy each cycle burns. Guess wrong and you're either oversizing your battery (wasting money) or undersizing it (dead system by day 2). This calculator takes your actuator's voltage, current draw, stroke length, speed, and usage pattern, then tells you energy consumption per cycle, per day, per week, and per month. Below you'll find the formulas, worked examples, battery sizing guidance, and the interactive calculator itself.

What Is Linear Motion Energy Consumption?

It's the total electrical energy your linear actuator uses over a given period — measured in watt-hours — based on how much power it draws and how long it runs each cycle.

Simple Explanation

Think of it like a faucet and a bucket. Power (watts) is how fast water flows. Time is how long you leave the tap on. Energy is how much water ends up in the bucket. A higher-power actuator fills that "energy bucket" faster, and a longer stroke keeps the tap open longer — so both increase total consumption. This calculator figures out the bucket size you need.

Linear Motion Energy Consumption Calculator

🎥 Video — Linear Motion Energy Consumption Calculator

How to Use This Calculator

Grab your actuator's spec sheet and your application requirements. You'll have results in under a minute.

1. Enter Operating Voltage. This is your supply voltage — 12V and 24V DC are the most common for linear actuators.
2. Enter Operating Current. Pull this from the actuator's datasheet. Use the "current under load" figure, not the no-load current — that's the real-world draw.
3. Enter Stroke Length. The actual travel distance your application uses, in inches. If you only use 8 inches of a 12-inch actuator, enter 8.
4. Enter Actuator Speed. Found on the spec sheet in inches per second. If you only have mm/s, divide by 25.4.
5. Enter Cycles per Day and Operating Days per Week. One cycle covers a full extend and a full retract. Hit "Calculate" and you'll see power draw, energy per cycle, and daily/weekly/monthly totals.

Linear Motion Energy Consumption Formula

Here are the 6 formulas the calculator uses, each building on the last:

Simple Example

Engineering Applications

Why One Cycle Means Both Directions

A common mistake — people calculate energy for just the extend stroke and forget the retract. Your actuator draws current in both directions. The motor runs whether the rod is pushing out or pulling back. This calculator always multiplies travel time by 2 to account for the full cycle. Miss this and you'll undersize your battery by exactly half.

Stroke Length Drives Energy Consumption

Energy per cycle scales directly with stroke length. Double your stroke from 6 inches to 12 inches and you double the energy consumed per cycle — because the actuator runs twice as long. This matters when you're choosing between actuator models. If a shorter stroke can do the job, you save energy on every single cycle. Over thousands of cycles, that adds up fast.

Speed Doesn't Change Power — But It Changes Runtime

Here's a point that trips people up. A slower actuator doesn't draw less power. Power draw depends on voltage and current under load — that's it. A 1 in/sec actuator and a 0.5 in/sec actuator pulling the same load at the same voltage draw the same watts. But the slower one runs twice as long per cycle, so it uses twice the energy per cycle. Speed matters for energy, not for power. If you're battery-constrained, a faster actuator actually saves energy per cycle because it finishes sooner.

Typical Power Draw for FIRGELLI Actuators

Most of our actuators fall in the 2–10A range at 12V or 24V, depending on the load. At 12V and 5A you're looking at 60W — a solid mid-range figure. Light-duty applications like TV lifts might draw 2–3A, while heavy-duty gate actuators pushing against wind load could pull 8–10A. Always use the loaded current from the spec sheet, not the no-load figure. No-load current can be less than half the real number.

Battery Sizing for Solar Gates and Off-Grid Systems

This is where the calculator earns its keep. Say you're building a solar-powered driveway gate and the calculator shows 6 Wh of daily consumption. You want 3 days of autonomy — enough to ride out cloudy weather — so you need at least 18 Wh of usable battery capacity. But you should never deep-discharge a lead-acid battery below 50%, and lithium batteries shouldn't go below 20%. So multiply by a 1.5× safety margin. That gives you 27 Wh minimum. Divide by your battery voltage (12V) and you need about 2.25 Ah. A standard 7 Ah sealed lead-acid battery gives you massive headroom — and they're cheap.

The Battery Sizing Rule of Thumb

Divide your required Wh by the battery voltage to get Ah, then multiply by 1.5 for a safety margin and to avoid deep discharge damage. This simple rule works for lead-acid, AGM, and lithium batteries alike — though lithium lets you use more of its rated capacity before damage, you still want a buffer for cold weather performance loss and aging.

Advanced Example

Frequently Asked Questions

Now you know exactly how much energy your actuator application demands. Run the numbers, size your battery with confidence, and build something that works off-grid without surprises. If you need help choosing the right actuator for your power budget, browse our full range — every spec sheet includes the voltage, current, speed, and stroke data you need to plug right into this calculator.

Related Calculators

• Battery Runtime Calculator — Ah to Hours
• Actuator Power Consumption Calculator — Watts from Force and Speed
• Power Supply Sizing Calculator
• Battery C-Rating & Max Continuous Amp Draw Interactive Calculator
• LiPo/Li-Ion Battery Runtime Estimator
• Watt Hours Interactive Calculator
• DC Motor Current Draw Calculator
• Actuator Duty Cycle Calculator — On-Time and Rest Period
• Actuator Life Cycle Estimator
• Motor Sizing for Linear Motion