Stockholders' equity (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended										0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Sep. 04, 2013	Aug. 28, 2013	Aug. 07, 2012	Mar. 27, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 09, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum	Feb. 22, 2012 February 22, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 December 14, 2015	Dec. 31, 2013 January 15, 2016	Jan. 15, 2011 January 15, 2016	Dec. 31, 2013 American DG Energy employee	Dec. 31, 2012 American DG Energy employee	Dec. 31, 2011 American DG Energy	Dec. 31, 2012 American DG Energy Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2013 American DG Energy Minimum Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2013 EuroSite Power	Dec. 31, 2012 EuroSite Power	Dec. 31, 2011 EuroSite Power	Jun. 13, 2011 EuroSite Power Stock Compensation Plan	Jun. 11, 2011 EuroSite Power Stock Compensation Plan	Oct. 15, 2013 EuroSite Power Minimum	Mar. 20, 2013 EuroSite Power Minimum	Oct. 15, 2013 EuroSite Power Maximum	Mar. 20, 2013 EuroSite Power Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Director American DG Energy	Dec. 31, 2012 Director American DG Energy	Aug. 28, 2013 Charles T. Maxwell	Mar. 20, 2013 Employee [Member] EuroSite Power employee	Mar. 20, 2013 Director EuroSite Power	Mar. 20, 2013 Consultant [Member] EuroSite Power	Oct. 15, 2013 Executive Officer [Member] EuroSite Power	Dec. 31, 2013 Expire in Five Years [Member] American DG Energy Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2013 Expire in Ten Years [Member] American DG Energy Stock Options
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Proceeds From Sale Of Restricted Common Stock	$ 500,001	$ 465,000	$ 2,000,000	$ 1,600,000
Stock Issued During Period Shares Restricted Stock	333,334		1,250,000	1,000,000																											300,000
Company stock price	$ 1.50	$ 1.55	$ 1.6	$ 1.6	$ 1.64																										$ 0.001
Common stock, shares outstanding					49,817,920	48,490,733
Payments for Repurchase of Common Stock					0	750,000					7,500
Warrants Exercised Expire Date											Feb. 22, 2013	Dec. 14, 2015
Number of Warrants Granted (in shares)					0	50,000					50,000
Warrants, Exercise Price Per Share								$ 3.25			$ 3.00	$ 3.25		$ 2.69
Number of Warrants Outstanding (in shares)					507,500	565,500	588,000					500,000	7,500
Number of Shares Authorized															5,000,000								4,500,000	3,000,000
Capital Shares Reserved for Future Issuance															105,500					475,000
Share-based Compensation					596,349	810,285									596,349	810,285				238,404
Total Compensation Cost Not yet Recognized					740,221
Nonvested Awards, Weighted Average Period That Total Compensation Costs Will Be Recognized					3 years															2 years 11 months 9 days
Number of Non-qualified Options Issued in Period															350,000	42,000													80,000	300,000						150,000	280,000
Number Of Individuals															2	5													1	2
Exercise price per share Granted Lower Range (usd per share)															$ 1.54	$ 1.60
Exercise price per share Granted Upper Range (usd per share)															$ 1.67	$ 2.79
Vesting Period									2 years	10 years									4 years	4 years					4 years	4 years	10 years	10 years
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award Options Canceled In Period															(5,000)	(11,250)				(3,000)	(10,000)
Number of Options Expired (in shares)															(100,000)	0				0	0
Expiration Period																		5 years																		5 years	10 years
Options Issued, Fair Value															368,044	456,392
Options Granted in Period, Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value															$ 0.86	$ 1.33
Number of Options Granted (in shares)															430,000	342,000				438,000	0											88,000	100,000	50,000	200,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Number of Employees Granted																																6
Weighted Average Exercise Price Granted (usd per share)															$ 1.59	$ 2.39				$ 0.67	$ 0.00
Weighted Average Remaining Life Outstanding															4 years 1 month 17 days	4 years 3 months 26 days	4 years 10 months 13 days			7 years 6 months 29 days	8 years 3 months 34 days	9 years 4 months 2 days
Fair Value Assumptions Risk Free Interest Rate					1.75%	0.74%
Expected volatility					60.30%	72.80%
Number of Options Outstanding (in shares)															2,386,500	2,061,500	2,008,375			4,025,000	3,590,000	3,600,000
Total Compensation Cost Not yet Recognized, Stock Options																				$ 220,936