What It Costs to Power 7 Popular Game Consoles

Video gaming is fun, but those good times can come at a hefty price—especially regarding electricity costs. And not all gaming devices are created equal; some electricity suckers are hungrier than others. Read on to see how the most popular consoles can have an impact on your utility bills.

1. The Hidden Costs of PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Consoles

Business Energy UK kicked off their research by first compiling a list of the most popular gaming consoles on the market. They then pulled energy consumption data from Efficient Gaming, using three hours of daily usage to estimate annual consumption numbers. To calculate the annual electricity cost, the researchers multiplied each console’s yearly kilowatt-hours by the average electricity cost in the U.S. and the UK.

This data only covers the most popular consoles released before April 2025, so the new Nintendo Switch 2, which launched in June of this year, is unfortunately missing from the equation.

The Hidden Costs of PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Consoles

According to these findings, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X will do the most damage to your bill, costing $40.28 a year for three hours of gameplay per day. That’s about 61 percent more power usage than other consoles. To be exact, the Series X burns through about 225 kilowatt-hours. Microsoft stopped reporting the number of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S units they’ve sold—however, a February 2025 report from game publisher Take-Two Interactive shows that the systems probably sold about 30 million units combined.

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Two PS systems, the PlayStation 5 Pro and the disc edition of the PlayStation 5, follow with electricity costs of $24.97 and $24.08, respectively. In general, Sony’s PlayStation 5 sells many more units compared to any Xbox system. As of April 30, 2024, the company had sold over 56 million units.  

Compared to Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Nintendo’s products are an energy-efficient investment. The original Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch – OLED consume just $1.61 worth of electricity annually. That leaves more cash on hand to afford the pricey Switch 2.