powertop

Calibrate power measurements

$ sudo powertop --calibrate

$ sudo powertop --html=[report.html]

$ sudo powertop --auto-tune

$ sudo powertop --time=[60]

powertop [--calibrate] [--html file] [--auto-tune] [--time seconds]

powertop analyzes system power consumption and suggests optimizations. It identifies power-hungry processes, devices, and kernel settings, providing actionable recommendations.
The interactive mode shows real-time power usage breakdown. Reports can identify specific software or hardware causing excessive power drain on laptops.

--calibrate

Calibrate power measurement (cycles display states)

Generate HTML report

Apply all suggested power optimizations

Measurement duration (default: 20)

Generate CSV report

Number of iterations

Calibration requires uninterrupted run and may take several minutes. Auto-tune changes are not persistent across reboots. Some optimizations may affect performance or stability. Root required for most functions.

powertop was developed by Intel to help Linux users optimize battery life. It became a standard tool for laptop power management and is included in most distributions.

powerstat(8), tlp(1), tuned(8)