Abstract In saturated IEEE 802.11 WLAN, the energy consumption in transmission per frame through basic mode and RTS/CTS mode is analyzed through mathematical model. The relation of RTS threshold and average energy consumption per frame is produced in the assumption that the frame payload’s length is distributed in a given interval. Further analysis shows there is an optimum RTS threshold that can minimize the average energy consumption. The method of calculating optimum RTS threshold is also presented. All theoretical analysis is validated through computer simulation.