UK Households Urged to Switch Off Gaming Consoles from Wednesday
A new change is coming into effect from April 1, and UK households with games consoles are being urged to adopt some energy-saving habits. From Wednesday, people in England, Wales, and Scotland on a standard variable tariff, who pay for their electricity via Direct Debit, will pay 24.67p per kilowatt hour (kWh) on average.
That represents a 7% reduction on the current price cap of 27.69p per kWh. However, despite this decrease, energy efficiency remains crucial for managing household bills. Anyone with an Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PlayStation 5 is being encouraged to take action to reduce their energy consumption.
Energy Consumption of Gaming Consoles
Consumer research, published early last year by digital intelligence platform MIDiA, found that console gamers spend 10 hours gaming per week on average. This equates to 1 hour and 26 minutes per day, highlighting the potential for significant energy use over time.
Protect Your Bubble, a consumer advice service, provides several tips for saving energy with gaming consoles:
- Switch it off completely: The latest versions of the Xbox and PlayStation burn much more energy than their predecessors due to superior hardware that handles high-definition visuals but pushes processors harder. Turning the consoles off fully prevents any energy drain. If you are not constantly gaming, you can unplug them, but ensure to do a full shut-down first rather than unplugging while in energy-saving or standby mode to avoid corrupting the drives.
- Keep them updated: While console updates can interrupt playing time, do not delay them too long as they can help with energy management. For example, earlier this year Microsoft issued an important update for Xbox consoles that reduces electricity consumption by allowing downloads of system and game updates while in energy-saving mode, where previously this was only possible in less efficient standby mode.
- Use alternative devices for streaming: If you have a Smart TV or streaming stick, it is more efficient to use those instead of your games console for streaming, as they consume far less energy. Consoles are built for gaming and should not be used predominantly for streaming if you are trying to save money on bills.
By following these simple steps, households can potentially lower their electricity usage and take advantage of the new price cap, contributing to both cost savings and environmental sustainability.
