There’s a hidden cost to next generation consoles: power consumption. This generation is the biggest power sucker yet. In fact, the only console that has managed to reduce its power consumption is the Wii U, and we all know that that’s not doing so well on the market. That’s particularly frightening considering the fact that old model PS3’s used more power than some common refrigerator models.
The Natural Resources Defense Council recently released a report detailing power usage for all next-generation consoles. The most worrying totals here, are how much power consoles use when in standby but not fully powered off. The Xbox One, for example, uses about half the power in standby that the Wii U uses to actually play games. All this so you can bark “XBOX TURN ON” to your Kinect.
In terms of actual power efficiency while in use, the Wii U is easily the most eco friendly console on the market. When navigating a menu, streaming video, or playing a game, it always uses around the same amount of power, far less than half either the PS4 or the Xbox One, a little over 25 watts of power in every case. The Xbox One, on the other hand, uses just under 75 watts of power while navigating and streaming and well over 100 watts of power when playing an actual game. The PS4 is even worse, utilizing nearly 90 watts of power when navigating and streaming and using over 137 watts of power when playing a game! The only power area where the PS4 beats the Xbox One is in Standby mode, where it uses about half as much as the Xbox One uses.
A lot of gamers have sort of handwaved away these results, saying that they are nothing compared to the power a fully decked out gaming PC uses, but that’s not the case. A PC uses less than two watts of power in sleep mode, less than both the Xbox One and PS4. The power consumption of an Xbox One is literally 750% higher than a gaming PC that is sleeping. The only console to do better is the Wii U which uses less than one watt of power in standby mode.
According to the NRDC, when new consoles become the standard, it will tax our power grid quite phenomenally. If all previous generation consoles were upgraded to their respective next-generation console, then they will use 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. That’s the equivalent of four power plants. Yes, four power plants doing absolutely nothing but fueling our need for gaming. That’s enough to power all of Houston Texas!
This poses several problems. First of all, gamers’ electricity bills are going to go through the roof. The NRDC estimates that one billion dollars a year will be put just toward the electricity these new consoles need. Second of all, the new load on the power grid will make the price of power go up for everyone.
Now don’t get us wrong, no one is telling you that you have to stop playing video games, but the NRDC found that consoles, based on the amount of time they are left in standby, are consuming more power when you AREN’T playing games. In fact, the report said that the Xbox One is the most problematic console even though the PS4 uses more power as a whole, due to its extra standby power usage and the amount of time it is switched on in TV viewing mode. So maybe do yourself a favor and turn off your power strip when your console isn’t in use.
Oh, and if you are going to stream movies or videos, invest in a Chromecast or Apple TV. Both consoles use 30 to 45 times more power when streaming than these simple video streaming alternatives.