How much does a game console cost to run?

Figures on this page are calculated from typical appliance wattages and the price per kWh you enter, not looked up from a bill. See how we calculate this.

What a game console costs to run: typical 150 W, about $15 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.

Wattage and running cost

Based on 1.5 h a day at $0.18/kWh, the US average. Change the hours and the price in the calculator above.

A modern game console draws far more power than the smartphones and tablets it competes with for attention, especially during graphically demanding games. While playing, a current-generation console typically pulls 120 to 200 watts, more than a large television, and often it is running alongside that television and a sound system. This page uses an hours-per-day approach; enter the console's in-game power, how long it is actually played each day and your price to see the yearly cost.

The number most people miss is standby. Consoles default to a 'rest' or 'instant-on' mode that keeps the machine partly awake to download updates and resume quickly, and that mode can draw 10 to 15 watts around the clock — every hour the console is 'off'. Over a year that idle draw can rival or even exceed the energy used for actual gaming, particularly for a console that is played a few hours a week but left in rest mode the rest of the time.

The fix is almost free. Switching the console to a full power-down or 'energy-saving' shutdown instead of rest mode removes nearly all the standby draw, at the cost of a slightly slower start-up and downloading updates when you next play rather than overnight. Turning down or off any always-on features you do not use, and not leaving a paused game running for hours, trims the in-use figure too.

Console type changes the number more than most people expect. A hybrid handheld console draws only a handful of watts running on its own screen, and noticeably more once docked and driving a TV; a console with a spinning disc drive pulls more than the same game run from an installed digital copy, since the drive itself draws power on top of the processor and graphics. If you own more than one type, the gap in wattage between them is often bigger than the gap between a 'quiet' and a graphically demanding game on the same machine.

What a game console costs in other countries

The figures above assume $0.18/kWh, the US average. A game console does not change when it crosses a border — the price of the electricity it drinks does. Here is what its 82 kWh a year cost in the 14 countries with a page here, dearest first.

Each figure is in that country's own currency at its average all-taxes-included price; the dollar column is there so they can be set against each other. Ireland to Canada is a factor of 3.8 — same appliance, same hours, 3.8 times the bill. Follow a country for its real retailer tariffs and what makes up that price, or see the full electricity price comparison by country.

How to cut game console running costs

• Use a full shutdown or 'energy-saving' mode instead of rest/instant-on to kill standby.
• Don't leave a paused game running for hours — the console keeps drawing full power.
• Turn off features you don't use, like keeping controllers charging or voice always listening.
• Put the console, TV and sound bar on one switched strip to cut them all at once.
• Schedule updates for when you'll be playing anyway rather than overnight rest mode.

Frequently asked questions