cd /news/ai-tools/show-hn-ai-meter-local-token-usage-w… · home topics ai-tools article
[ARTICLE · art-72909] src=ai-meter.app ↗ pub= topic=ai-tools verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Show HN: AI Meter – Local token usage with energy and water estimates

A developer created AI Meter, a local token usage tracker that estimates energy and water impact from AI coding-tool logs, after discovering their personal AI usage consumed nearly 1 MWh in the past three months. The tool, available at ai-meter.app, works offline without login or tracking, using formulas calibrated from Oviedo et al.'s production-scale inference model and LBNL's U.S. data-center water usage effectiveness scenario.

read1 min views1 publishedJul 25, 2026

[Problem] I wanted to track how many tokens I am burning and it's estimated energy and water impact.

[WHAT THIS IS] A local token usage tracker that works across different coding harnesses and estimates energy and water impact

[MY EXPERIENCE] Tracking this really put things into perspective. My personal usage is close to 1 MWh in the past three months which I had no idea about. This does not include my AI usage at work which is probably 10x.

[DEMO]
If you are interested in tracking these numbers locally, try out: [https://ai-meter.app](https://ai-meter.app)
  • It reads historical data if the files are present. Works completely locally (except to check if there is an update for the widget) - No login. No analytics. No tracking.
----

[On estimates]

AI Meter measures tokens from local AI coding-tool logs, then estimates:

Electricity: tokens ÷ 1M × 0.39 kWh, calibrated from Oviedo et al.’s production-scale inference model.

Direct cooling water: electricity ÷ 1.20 PUE × 0.45 L/IT-kWh, using LBNL’s U.S. data-center WUE scenario.

These are adjustable estimates, not provider measurements. They exclude training, hardware manufacturing, electricity-generation water, and local-device energy.


Hope you find this interesting! Please feel free to give feedback, would love to make this better!

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49043860](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49043860)

Points: 1

── more in #ai-tools 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @ai meter 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/show-hn-ai-meter-loc…] indexed:0 read:1min 2026-07-25 ·