SA electricity: what you pay for PS4, Xbox One, Wii U

If you’re fortunate enough to own (or are looking to buy) one of the latest gaming consoles – Wii U, PS4, or Xbox One – have you considered how much electricity these machines consume?

Whether you’re actively gaming, streaming video content, or have left the console in standby mode, it’s draining juice from the national grid.

This is a pertinent topic considering winter is upon us and national electricity supplier Eskom has warned that its power system is “severely constrained” while calling on consumers to reduce power demand by at least 10% to avoid possible load-shedding.

So how much does running these consoles cost each month? We’ve put the numbers through the MyGaming abacus – the results are below.

	South African annual console power consumption cost
	Annual Energy Consumption (kWh/y)	Eskom Energy charge (cents/kWh)	Annual energy cost
Wii U	37	101.06	R37.40
PS4	181	101.06	R182.92
Xbox One	233	101.06	R235.47

And just how did we arrive at these numbers? Read on.

International non-profit environment group, The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released their May 2014 report which analysed the electricity consumption of the three consoles. Measurements included the consoles’ motion and voice sensing devices – Kinect, PS Camera, and Wii U sensor bar.

Below is a summary of their findings.

	Console power consumption – NRDC May 2014
	Gameplay Power (watts)	Video Streaming Power (watts)	Connected Standby Power (watts)	Annual Energy Consumption (kWh/y)
Wii U	34	29	0.4	37
PS4	137	89	8.5	181
Xbox One	112	74	15.7	233

NRDC estimated the annual energy consumption of game consoles, expressed in kilowatt hours per year (kWh/y), by multiplying the average time spent in each mode each year (hours) by the power consumption of each mode (watts). NRDC’s average usage assumptions are based on usage habits in the United States. A full explanation of the NRDC’s testing methodology and research can be found in their published paper.

NRDC console usage assumptions – May 2014

South African cost to operate consoles

Due to the complexity and various use-case scenarios of Eskom’s tariff structures, it is difficult to arrive at a single definitive electricity cost to run the consoles. Variables include the type of residential home, distance to transmission source, and geographical location.

To get an indicative figure, we have taken the simplest tariff option – standard rates for residential customers. You can go to Eskom’s website to check your exact tariffs. The table below summarises Eskom’s “Home Power” standard rates for the year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

For the purpose of our calculation, we took the block 1 rate of 101.06 c/kWh, which is flat across all residential groups. The calculation did not include the various Homepower group tariffs for network access.

	Eskom “Home Power” standard – Non-local authority rates – 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015
	Energy charge (cents/kWh)		Network access charge (R/POD/day)
	Block 1 (>0-600 kWh) – VAT incl.	Block 2 (>600 kWh) – VAT incl.
Homepower 1	101.06	159.57	R4.33
Homepower 2	101.06	155.58	R8.12
Homepower 3	101.06	155.58	R16.75
Homepower 4	101.06	62.51	R2.6

It should be noted that the tariff scales upwards based on usage each month – the first 600kWh are charged at block 1 rates, and subsequent consumption is charged at block 2 rates. The usage blocks are reset each billing cycle.

Console power consumption – NRDC key findings

The new consoles consume more energy each year playing video or in standby mode than playing games.
The Xbox One and PS4 consume two to three times more annual energy than the latest models of their predecessors, the Xbox 360 and PS3.
While the new versions are more powerful, the two- to-three-fold increase in energy use is due to higher power demand in standby and on modes and, in the case of the Xbox One, more time switched on due to its TV viewing mode. In this mode, the console is used in addition to the current set-top box to access cable or satellite TV, adding 72 watts to TV viewing.
The Xbox One draws less power than the PS4 in on mode. However, the Xbox One consumes a lot more energy when not in use (connected standby mode).
Nearly half of the Xbox One’s annual energy is consumed in connected standby, when the console continuously draws more than 15 watts while waiting for the user to say “Xbox on,” even in the middle of the night or during the workday when no one is home. If left unchanged, this one feature will be responsible for $400 million in annual electricity bills and the equivalent annual electricity output of a large, 750-megawatt power plant.
Consoles have incorporated some good design practices, including better power scaling and well-implemented automatic power down to a low-power state after an extended period of user inactivity. The PS4 and Xbox One are very inefficient when playing movies, using 30 to 45 times more power to stream a movie than a dedicated Apple TV or Google Chromecast.