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Short and simple: What is the power consumption for an ATtiny85 running at 1 MHz and 8 MHz using the internal clock? Not using any sleep modes.

I have googled a lot and can't find any info on this. I ask because I want to know if it is worth using 1 MHz to increase battery life.

Greenonline
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marlar
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1 Answers1

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The datasheet shows that current decreases at lower frequencies. Around 1 mA at 1 MHz running at 5 V. More like 5 mA at 8 MHz running at 5 V.

Supply current vs frequency

You can save quite a bit by using lower voltages as well, as you can see. For really big savings use a sleep mode. Read about Power saving techniques for microprocessors.


(Edited to add)

To amplify on my remarks, you should be able to get 200 nA consumption at 3.5 V in sleep mode with no watchdog timer. That will still respond to interrupts, such as closing a switch.

Supply current with watchdog disabled


If you need to do things periodically you can enable the watchdog, and then get around 5 µA consumption at 3.5 V.

Supply current with watchdog enabled


This is so much less current than the 1 mA mentioned above, that it is well worth exploring running in power-down mode, where possible.

Nick Gammon
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