Power plays: Game consoles gobble up electricity, even when idle

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It’s not the kind of power up that gamers crave.

Video game consoles in the U.S. consume more than $1 billion of electricity a year just when sitting idle, according to a report issued today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group based in New York.

That’s not counting the energy the systems suck up when they’re being played. According to the NRDC, Sony’s PlayStation 3 burns through 150 watts on average when actively used, about as much as a 36-inch television or a large electric blanket. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 uses an average of 119 watts. The exception in the console world is the Nintendo Wii, which sips 16 watts in active mode.

Aside from the Wii, modern game consoles are essentially powerful computers disguised as playthings. They contain high-end chips that heat up and require fans to cool down. But unlike computers, they don’t power down by default after they’ve been sitting idle for an hour or so.

The NRDC estimates that half of all console owners leave their machines on after they’re done playing, wasting more than 11 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Turning off the machines would shave about $100 from the average annual electrical bill per console. So for gamers, powering down can be as attractive as leveling up.

-- Alex Pham

Chart by the Natural Resources Defense Council