Are you concerned about the energy consumption of your consoles?

[Segatarious1]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2156044/study-xbox-one-ps4-consume-ridiculous-amounts-of-unnecessary-power.html

All told, the energy consumed from all three modern consoles will cost U.S. consumers an estimated $1 billion in energy costs this year, consuming enough electricity to light all the homes in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country, the NRDC estimated.



Now, do not laugh, depending on where you live and what you budget is, energy consumption can be a pretty big deal, and consumption  for 2 out of the 3 current gen machines are getting quite high:




^Those are the Killowat hours a year, each console is estimated to use.

I"n the USA electricity is still relatively cheap, but costs will rise due to new standards being enacted by the EPA http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/02/epa-admits-climate-rule-will-raise-electricity-prices/ and the struggles of the US dollar, among other reasons, and will likely eventually catch the prices seen in Europe. But do not expect European prices to go down, either.... :



Right now in the USA, est. yearly cost.

Wii U - $4.44
PS4 - $21.72
X ONE - $27.96

And in Germany :

Wii U - 12.95
PS4 - $63.35
X ONE - $81.55

I find it funny, Nintendo is always being lambasted by environmental groups for not cooperating with their inquiries (which they are under no obligation to do), and yet, their environmental perfomance is far and away ahead of their competitors.

[ZetaX1]

It's interesting that the Wii U uses less power than the Wii.  Wonder if they figure-in the controller charging cost as well?

What sort of daily usage are those amounts based on?  2 hours a day?  4 hours a day?

Interesting info, definitely something to think about.

[scotland171]

Interesting stuff on vampire power, SegaT.

To put it in perspective, if the xbox one were to use 250 kwh annually, thats about a 2% increase in your bill (using Energy Information Agency averave electric consumption in US).

The 250 kwh a year for XboxOne is mostly waiting around for a voice command. Basically an expensive clapper. It also uses ten or more times the power to stream than an apple tv. However, without the kinect and probably with some tweaks to get into a low power state the standby consumption at least might go down alot. The PS4 issue seems to be about keeping usb ports active.

What was not mentioned in the OP is this data is from the NRDC, an environmental lobbying and awareness group concerned about policies to safeguard the ecosystem. They are very supportive of strong EPA pollution standards on coal power plants. Hence their interest here. Its possible their statements like 'energy consumption by us consumers using the three modern consoles consumes enough electricity to light up Houston' is there for the drama. Notice they don't say power Houston, just light up Houston, which seems like trying to be deceptive.

Still, if you have a modern console look for that low power state instead of leaving it on standby, and think twice on using it as a streaming device if you have an alternative.

[Viper821]

Kinda ironic how Sony used to brag about how "Green" the slim PS3 is. I don't have to pay for power since I rent but that is rather eye opening about the "hidden" costs especially in places like Europe. I had no idea how expensive power was compared to here in Atlantic Canada.

[ZetaX1]

[QUOTE=scotland17]Interesting stuff on vampire power, SegaT. To put it in perspective, if the xbox one were to use 250 kwh annually, thats about a 2% increase in your bill (using Energy Information Agency averave electric consumption in US). The 250 kwh a year for XboxOne is mostly waiting around for a voice command. Basically an expensive clapper. [/QUOTE]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the report was talking about parasitic power use, but rather normal "switched-on" use.

[QUOTE=scotland17]Its possible their statements like 'energy consumption by us consumers using the three modern consoles consumes enough electricity to light up Houston' is there for the drama. Notice they don't say power Houston, just light up Houston, which seems like trying to be deceptive.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it also doesn't say how long it would light up Houston...2 seconds?  A minute?  Dramatic, but vague.

[ActRaiser1]

Well, I found one reason last night why my Wii U draws less power than my other consoles.  Once it locks up, I shut it off completely and do something else.  For whatever reason it locked up in Mario Kart.  

"Xbox, Watch TV"...worked like a charm.

[Segatarious1]

Here is the chart representing power draw :