You may wish to investigate your consoles, which a well-known British energy business recently dubbed “vampires” and encouraged us to switch off altogether if we live in a country with high energy expenses or if we want to save money or the environment.
It’s not right, but the truth remains that many of us are trying to cut costs as the worldwide cost-of-living issue affects every part of our lives, and any home appliance that is permanently connected to the internet is worth inspecting for potential savings. Is/are your game system(s) set to “instant-on?” Insomnia mode? Reduced power consumption? How much are you actually spending monthly on each, and do you even realize what the difference is? You can count on us to assist you. Have a look at our article on the topic to learn more about ways to save money on your monthly bills and electricity costs without sacrificing gameplay.
PS5 VS Xbox Series X VS Nintendo Switch VS PC….Which one should you bu… https://t.co/kzJHVyyHwy via @YouTube #Sony #PS5 #PlayStation5 #Xbox #XboxSeriesX #Nintendo #NintendoSwitch #gaming pic.twitter.com/uZX6YG8BQx
— DadHut (@TheDadHut) September 19, 2021
How Much Electricity Does A Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Xbox, Or Sony Playstation Use?
You’ll find some useful data below, including estimated hourly and weekly energy usage for the various models of Nintendo Switch currently on the market, alongside that of Sony and Microsoft consoles for comparison.
A few preliminary remarks:
NVIDIA’s Shield TV (Base Model)
The cost of docked applications’ energy use is estimated to be $1 per hour and $36 per week.
- Have fun 7-11 W
- £0.01 £0.08 (2 hours per day)
- Use 15-17 W of power as you entertain yourself.
- £0.01 £0.06 (1 hour per day)
- Transmission of six watts for two pounds (1 hour per day)
- Listed first on the main menu
- 3 W <£0.01 <£0.01 (1 hour per week)
- Energy consumption in sleep mode: £0.01-0.04 (20 hours per day)
- Reduced power consumption (charging) during sleeping 9.8-12.1W £0.01-0.04 (1 hour per day)
- Power consumption at turnoff: 0.3–0.5W ($0.01–$0.04) (20 hours per day)
Undocked
- Projected weekly spend on energy for the application based on the hourly draw
- Charge and play for 8-9 watts/ £0.03-£0.06 (2 hours per day)
- 8-9 W (charging) sleep mode $0.03-0.06 (2 hours per day)
The weekly average is $0.10 ($0.10 an hour) to $0.30 ($0.30 an hour) (5 hours game per day)
The Light Version of the Nintendo Switch
Since you can’t dock the Switch Lite, you’ll need to think about how much juice it’ll need to play a game while it’s charging. Projected weekly spending on energy for the application based on the hourly draw.
- 5-7.5W £0.03 £0.05 (2 hours per day)
- The Charger Game
- 7.5-13.5W £0.05 £0.05 (1 hour per day)
- During sleep mode (charging), 13 W is consumed (at £5 and £0.09, respectively) (2 hours per day)
Average weekly expenditure of $0.10 ($0.30 if you play for less than an hour a day) (5 hours game per day)
Nintendo OLED Switch
Charging power for the OLED display is unknown to Nintendo, however, it is likely to be similar to that of the standard Nintendo Switch. As these are Nintendo’s numbers and not those of a third party, you are free to do whatever you wish with them. Moreover, we have information specifically for docking situations.
Reduced per-hour application energy cost
- AVERAGE WEEKLY COST
- Use your free time to have fun
- 6 W £0.02 £0.04 (2 hours per day)
- Online video streaming
- 5 W £0.02 £0.02 (1 hour per day)
- Listed first on the main menu
- 3 W £0.01 <£0.01 (1 hour per week)
- Insomniac setting
- 0.3-0.5W (Wi-Fi)
- In terms of power consumption, the breakdown is as follows: 2.2W (wired) £0.01 (Wi-Fi) £0.01 (wired)
- £0.04 (20 hours per day)
- £0.16 (20 hours per day)
- Power consumption at turnoff: 0.3–0.5W ($0.01–$0.04) (20 hours per day)
The Typical Weekly Expenditure
Prices range from £0.08 (for a daily one-hour game) to $0.25 (5 hours game per day)
Here are the prices for the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, respectively, from Microsoft and Sony’s respective websites:
Energy Consumption For Xbox Series X Applications, Measured In Hours Per Week
- Use your free time to have fun
- 153 W £0.08 £1.09 (2 hours per day)
- Streaming
- 47 W £0.02 £0.34 (2 hours per day)
- Quick-Start Activation
- 13 W £0.01 £0.93 (20 hours per day)
- Located near to 0.5W £0.01 £0.04 (20 hours per week)
Weekly costs average between $1.62 (for one hour of play per day with instant on) to $3.61 (for five hours of play per day).
Energy Cost Per Hour Approximate Weekly Cost For Xbox Series S Applications
- Enjoy the thrill of gaming 74 Pence Sterling and Half a Pence Sterling (2 hours per day)
- Video streaming 31 W $0.04 $0.22 (2 hours per day)
- Quick-Start Activation
- 10 W £0.01 £0.71 (20 hours per day)
- Next to the 0.4 W £0.01 £0.03 (20 hours per day)
You may expect to spend between $1.08 (for one hour of play per day with instant on) and $2.00 (for five hours of play per day with instant on) every week on average.
Prefix 5 Approximate Weekly Cost Of 5 Application Draw Energy
- Gamble 200 P £0.10 £1.43 (2 hours per day)
- 54 Mbps streaming £0.03 £0.39 (2 hours per day)
- In close proximity to 2 W £0.01 £0.14 (20 hours a day)
Depending on how many hours you play per week, the price might range from $0.87 (for a daily one-hour session) to $3.71 (5 hours of game per day)
Video Game Console Comparison: Switch, Xbox, And Playstation
Here, we’ll only summarise the data presented above to highlight the key differences between the three leading “flagship” consoles:
Console Application Average Weekly Bill For Drawing Energy
- Turn on/off OLED for gaming, 6 W, £0.02/£0.04 (2 hours per day)
- Play games at 200 watts for only $0.10 and $1.43 on your PS5! (2 hours a day)
- Games for the Xbox One X 153 watts
- £0.08 £1.09 (2 hours per day)
- Turning the OLED standby/sleep switch will cost you between 0.3 and 0.5 watts (wireless) and 2.2 watts (wired), or £0.01 (wireless), £0.01 (wired), £0.04
- (20 hours), and £0.16 respectively (20 hours per day)
- PS5 Sleep/Standby Power Consumption: 2 W, £0.001 / $0.14 (20 hours a day)
- Microsoft Xbox 360 Series Sleep Mode: 0.5W (£0.01 £0.04) (20 hours per week)
How To Improve Switch Efficiency And Decrease Energy Use
As can be seen (and as is to be expected from a more portable system), the Switch requires significantly less energy to run than the other major gaming consoles now on the market. and increasingly power-hungry home gadgets, we may soon see some respite.
To make your Switch as energy-efficient as possible, though, here are some suggestions to keep in mind:
- Switches charge considerably quicker when docked when turned off than when in use, therefore that’s when you should try to do it.
- Instead of putting your computer into hibernation, just turn off the power (but you won’t have access to hibernate features like rapid resume or downloads).
- Make sure the “low power” option is turned on for your OLED screen while connecting to the internet through a wired connection.
- Dim the lights, please.
- Disable wireless connections such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
- Never Disconnect the Joy-Con
- Before taking the Switch with you, make sure it has a full charge.
- Replace your old Switch with a newer, more powerful one.
- Changing the settings and playing less won’t help you save a significant amount of money. Even with a reasonably demanding OLED display and wired
- internet connectivity, you may only expect to save a few dollars here and there. Whether or whether you decide it’s important to learn is up to you.
An Xbox One S or X in Instant On mode can use nearly as much power as a charging Nintendo Switch, so it’s important to check your Xbox’s battery-saving options. I enjoy Zelda as well. Our Pure Xbox sister site has all the information you need.
To avoid paying an exorbitant amount of money for the privilege of having your three consoles on standby, you should limit the amount of time you play each one and make use of the power-saving capabilities, just like you would with a PlayStation 5.