zergtoshi

They don’t want to make money.
They want more means to brainwash people.

It can go higher than the 8 watts, though.
The 8 watts are with rather low CPU load, but with 1 SATA SSD and 1 NVMe SSD.
At full CPU load I expect it to be closer to 15 watts. With what the device is runningn high load happens rarely and not for long.

As others mentioned used SFF PCs, here’s my recommendation based on my own experience.

I bought several used Dell Wyse 5070. The 5070 was announced in May 2018 and used as thin client.
They’re tiny, silent (no fan) and you can fit a NVMe SSD via adapter (PCIe A/E key -> M key) in the WiFi card slot next to a SATA SSD. I picked the ones with Intel Celeron J4105 (Quad Core) with 1.5GHz, up to 2.5GHz burst and put 32 GB RAM in one of them (that was before prices went nuts).
Beware, only if you pick the right dual ranked RAM modules (e.g. Patriot PSD416G26662S), you can have a max. of 2x16 GB. To start your journey, 4 or 8 GB might just be enough and don’t cost an arm and a leg.
Now I have a PVE (Proxmox Virtual Environment) running with several virtual servers and lxc, one 5070 hosts a PBS (Proxmox Backup Server) and both devices are far from their limit. In case of hardware failure I have spare 5070s.
Each 5070 cost around $65 and runs at around 8 watts at average. Dunno about current prices though.

It fits my needs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Maybe it fits your needs as well?

Mandatory WFH isn’t as good as optional WFH.
After all it’s being able to choose, what makes most people with “WFH option” happy and thriving.
It sounds like you have found your balance between office and WFH. Now find a workplace that allows living that balance!
All the best!