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PS3 rapes your electric bill, hogs more power than a refrigerator photo

We already knew that the PlayStation 3 is a huge space hog, but now it seems that the game console is also munching down on your electric power bill.

Australian-based Choice Magazine decided to test the power consumption of your beloved electronics, including the current generation of game systems. You probably won't be surprised to hear that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are massive power whores. 

"Our tests also found that leaving a PlayStation 3 on while not in use would cost almost $250 a year in electricity bills (charged at 15c per kWh). This alone is around five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period."

I had no idea that these boxes were so power hungry! According to their chart, even after US dollar conversion, your Xbox 360 and PS3 combined are stealing about 8 or 9 games out of your potential future library. On the other hand, if you left your Nintendo Wii on all year, it would only cost you about $25. 

Of course, I'm probably writing this for an auidence that has the air conditioner cranked, the stereo at full blast, and 3 computers and two consoles running all at the same time. I'm with you on all of that.

[Via Spong]


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84 comments | showing # 1 to 50

vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 06/03/2008 11:48
That's silly. No one leaves their consoles on all the time.

...
Rifter01's Avatar
Rifter01 at 06/03/2008 11:48
ZOMG.. That's some major power suckage! I guess that would mean they aren't energystar compliant.
Redzie's Avatar
Redzie at 06/03/2008 11:51
The world ends on 2012 so lets just rape the earth as much as we can before she slaps us back til then.
broonor's Avatar
broonor at 06/03/2008 11:51
I guess the poor people can't run folding@home if they want to eat?
falinter's Avatar
falinter at 06/03/2008 11:52
I unplug my 360 when im done with it. It's hard to get friends to understand if they don't see the electric bill.
Alexradl's Avatar
Alexradl at 06/03/2008 11:52
PS3 is just two refrigerators taped together!
linuxguy's Avatar
linuxguy at 06/03/2008 11:52
when you don't use it turn it off,that's what the nifty power button in the back is for.
foxhound009's Avatar
foxhound009 at 06/03/2008 12:00
oh .. oh... we probably shouldn't say this out loud... there are lot of "green" people around :'
dragfindel's Avatar
dragfindel at 06/03/2008 12:00
i call bollocks on this one.
you don't have your ps3 on 24/7.
so i don't see the point of this research?
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 06/03/2008 12:01
Yeah my electric bill goes up when I use my consoles more... last month was high because of GTAIV
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 06/03/2008 12:01
But the Wii uses more than double the energy of the other two consoles when in standby. And when you consider that a typical console probably spends at least 90% of its life on standby, the average power consumption of all three consoles aren't very different at all.

Of course, you could bypass standby and just unplug / switch off everything off when not in use, at which point Wii wins again.
NightWalker's Avatar
NightWalker at 06/03/2008 12:04
@AlexRADL : Don't you mean 2 Grill plates?! they put out enough heat to bake an egg on... Damn thats not a fridge..

Though that does tell me where my electicity went, my room mates PS3........
BlackSheep's Avatar
BlackSheep at 06/03/2008 12:05
crap we have 2 of each... AND A FRIDGE!!

time to go whore myself
linuxguy's Avatar
linuxguy at 06/03/2008 12:08
why not add the 360 in the title?
OMG DTOID R FANBOIZ
Artemus's Avatar
Artemus at 06/03/2008 12:08
Holy toledo, brotha!
That is some interesting and frightening news...
A while back, I've read of a study concerning the incredible sucking power of "Vampire" electronics. The study stated to unplug everything not in use(televisions, lamps, toasters, chargers, etc.).
I mean, I get the idea, but who has the time and effort to do this?
Honestly...
BS3 Owner's Avatar
BS3 Owner at 06/03/2008 12:09
@ vexed alex

pm me your PSN Tag!
Justin Villasenor's Avatar
Justin Villasenor at 06/03/2008 12:12
This is another reason I always turn my consoles completely off.
A New Challenger's Avatar
A New Challenger at 06/03/2008 12:13
Speaking of Standby mode, I'm getting sick of electronics that don't have an easy way to turn the fucking thing completely off without unplugging it. Ever since Sony did that with the slim line PS2 it's been a pet peeve of mine.
Blackhat's Avatar
Blackhat at 06/03/2008 12:16
I unplug my consoles when I'm not using them. Moreso for my own pocketbook than for the environment, I'll admit.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 06/03/2008 12:34
Just to clarify:

The article is only talking about leaving consoles completely turned on. Green light, at the menu screen, ready to play. It does not address standby power consumption.
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 06/03/2008 12:41
fek... I think in the only bastardo that leaves the ps3 on 24/7...
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 06/03/2008 12:42
So it only costs $50 to run the fridge on all year? No way.
parrothead's Avatar
parrothead at 06/03/2008 12:49
I never turn off my PS3 or my Wii or both my Laptops. Now I am going to have to start shutting those things off. That is until I start to forget about it 2 weeks from now.
Mattchewie's Avatar
Mattchewie at 06/03/2008 12:53
If you really wanted to "unplug" everything but wanted it done a bit eaiser, you could just place your surge protector in a easy access spot and turn it off, thus giving you the "unplugged" state without needing to unplug.
C_O_N_C_E_P_T_S's Avatar
C_O_N_C_E_P_T_S at 06/03/2008 13:08
Another fanboy site.
zod000's Avatar
zod000 at 06/03/2008 13:13
Should the title read PS3 and 360 rape your electric bill? Just saying...
Ubeinn's Avatar
Ubeinn at 06/03/2008 13:16
Um... not to say this is unobjective or the title is written in a biased manner... but the 360 and the Wii don't run on steam or solar power...
digweed13's Avatar
digweed13 at 06/03/2008 13:20
@MaxVest

Did you even go to the site and see the chart?

It shows with the systems on standby and on while idle and on while playing a game.

Click here to see!
greeneggsnsam's Avatar
greeneggsnsam at 06/03/2008 13:21
I recently got a PS3 and a surround sound system. Ouch.

Fortunately, I don't leave them on at all when not in use, and I don't pay the bill.
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 06/03/2008 13:24
How can I save on my electric bill?

Turn shit off.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 06/03/2008 13:35
@digweed13:

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I was referring to reading this article and also the source at Spong. There seemed to be a lot of confusion over unplugging the units, etc. Since unplugging a PS3 saves you a whopping $2.50 / year over just turning off the front power (standby), it seemed like people were missing the point.

But you are definitely correct in saying that the full chart at Choice Magazine shows this info. The last paragraph of the Choice Magazine article, though, is misleading and has apparently led to confusion.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 06/03/2008 13:39
@digweed13:

If you want a more thorough and less confusing breakdown, this report on console and PC power consumption made the rounds a while back.
skullivan's Avatar
skullivan at 06/03/2008 13:53
I remember reading this when folding@home first came out for PS3. If you've got that running, the system is drawing even more power.
thunderleg's Avatar
thunderleg at 06/03/2008 14:18
Save money and rape your own power bill!
Or your refrigerator.
Or your PS3.
Or all three!
kagai's Avatar
kagai at 06/03/2008 14:26
So, I should unplug my refrigerator?
loki d20's Avatar
loki d20 at 06/03/2008 14:34
Actually, in our area my neighbors pay upwards of $500/month for electricity whereas I've gotten mine down to $125 during the summer and $150 during the winter without turning my house into a ice or heat box. Turning off my consoles when not in use is one of the primary things I do, alongside my lights, PC monitors (actually hit the power button and don't leave it on power mode), and other things.

The wife used to complain about me buying a new game once or twice a month (or more often during Holiday season), then I showed her how much I've been saving us on our power bill and she hasn't complained since then.
coffeesash's Avatar
coffeesash at 06/03/2008 14:43
I did research on this last year. If you leave your Wii on standby it takes up 10 times as much energy as a 360 or PS3 on standby because of the Wii 24 feature.

PS3s and 360s are about 200w when switched on, a fridge on average is about 300w so they are talking out of their botties, and who leaves their console on 24/7 anyway?
mix's Avatar
mix at 06/03/2008 14:45
I only have mine on when I play, screw folding @ home!

Some people leave their PC's on 24/7 and I would guess that a PC running 24/7 would cost more than a PS3 would to run. Unless you have a sissy gilry PC with some 300w PSU in it, I Arnold LOL at that.
Gate's Avatar
Gate at 06/03/2008 15:02
Are you kidding me? The PS3 uses less power when on standby ($2.33) than both the Xbox 360 ($3.16) and the Wii (with WiiConnect24 OFF $2.50). Seeing as most people turn their consoles to standby when not in use, I think those are the more interesting numbers. Again, it's a conspiracy against the PS3!
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 06/03/2008 15:03
Well, it’s a good thing that I’m at college for much of the year, because my PS3 is on 24/7 (when I’m not using it, it’s Folding@home). Hopefully, my parents won’t notice the summer spike in the electricity bill...
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 06/03/2008 15:04
Why would I leave the PS3 on for a year? I'm not folding either. Also, I thought this was OFN.
Keaglez's Avatar
Keaglez at 06/03/2008 16:04
yeah.......the title says PS3 power hog and yet in the article it self it says that the 360 does it also...hmm..alright.
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 06/03/2008 16:07
guess I'll be switching it of with that big'ol powerbutton in the back from now on :-)
Volomon's Avatar
Volomon at 06/03/2008 17:17
@mistic He said if you left it on, he didn't say anything about leaving it in standby.
Volomon's Avatar
Volomon at 06/03/2008 17:20
In fact the writing of the article here at Destructoid needs to make everyone aware that ON means actively on and off means standby mode, standby costing $15 a year. As far as I know NO ONE leaves their PS3 on constantly.
Simmy's Avatar
Simmy at 06/03/2008 17:21
Well I wonder how much the equivlent gaming PC costs to run over the same period of time - somebody get one of those power monitor thingies and find out!
Volomon's Avatar
Volomon at 06/03/2008 17:25
Says right here. Though it lists a very weak computer.
ApocSin's Avatar
ApocSin at 06/03/2008 17:34
*slowly Gets up and turns off his ps3*
loki d20's Avatar
loki d20 at 06/03/2008 17:57
I'm kind of over Destructoid's (generalization, yeah) inability to place PS3 and 360 on the same level for anything. All you people complaining about it need to just read the news here with a grain of salt when they complaining about the PS3 or lauding the 360. The reviews typically are still worthwhile and the news comes in from various sources that it is worth ignoring the bias.
winojesus's Avatar
winojesus at 06/03/2008 18:00
thank fuck i'm loaded!
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