Transparency

AI Energy Footprint

Generating a board uses AI compute — which uses electricity. We show a rough estimate near our $5 price so you know what the energy cost looks like, even though it is already included in the price and is not an added charge.

Why we show this

AI image generation uses compute hardware, electricity, cooling, and infrastructure. There is no universally accepted per-image energy rate, and our estimate is a rough approximation based on publicly available research — not a certified or verified measurement.

We include the label because we think it is better to be transparent about compute costs than to hide them. The estimate is provided in good faith.

The rough estimate: ≈ 5–20 Wh

The estimate covers the full board generation workflow, not just the image model:

  • Prompt processing — preparing and compiling your board recipe into a generation prompt
  • Image generation — running the AI image model to produce your board
  • Retry and edit allowance — account for the possibility that you generate multiple previews before finding the right direction
  • Export, email, and storage — serving the preview, processing the paid export, sending the download email, and temporary storage

The range is wide (5–20 Wh) because energy use varies significantly depending on image complexity, model load, hardware efficiency, and whether retries occur.

What this is not

  • This is not a certified, audited, or independently verified energy measurement
  • This is not a carbon offset or carbon-neutral claim
  • This is not a claim that our infrastructure is powered by renewable energy
  • This is not an exact per-request figure from our AI provider

We do not have access to per-request energy data from our AI infrastructure provider. The estimate is derived from published research on inference energy costs for image generation models of similar scale, adjusted for our workflow.

For context

5–20 Wh is roughly equivalent to leaving a phone charger plugged in for 30 minutes to two hours, or running a standard LED bulb for 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. It is a small but real energy cost, which is why we mention it.

Questions

If you have questions about our energy estimate or methodology, you are welcome to email us. We will update this page as better per-request data becomes available from AI providers.