TechCompare LogoTechCompare

Running a 250 W console 3 h/day costs about $39 a year

A PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X running 3 hours a day at 80% load costs about $39.42 a year in electricity at $0.18/kWh — $3.29 a month and 219 kWh annually. Consoles are noticeably cheaper to run than even a mid-range gaming PC, because their total system power is bounded at 200-220 W and real-world draw during gaming settles lower still.

Annual cost
$39
At $0.18/kWh
Monthly cost
$3
3 h/day at 80% load
Annual consumption
219 kWh
250 W rated

Calculator

Power Cost Estimator

Device Configuration

W

Not sure? Check PCPartPicker or BuildCores.

Effective Power: 200W

Hours
$/kWh

Not sure? Check global prices on World Population Review.

Daily Cost
$0.11
Monthly Cost
$3.24
Yearly Cost
$39.42
219 kWh / year

How this is calculated

The 250 W figure is the rated PSU ceiling; actual draw during typical AAA gameplay sits at 180-210 W on the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The real hidden cost is standby: both consoles default to "instant on" mode drawing 10-15 W 24/7, which adds about $18/year entirely to standby power. Switching to full-shutdown standby (4-5 W) cuts that to about $6/year.

Verdict

$39/year for 3 hours of gaming a day is the cheapest way to play — about half what a 500 W gaming PC costs on the same schedule. Fix the standby setting and you can shave another $12/year off without any functional downside.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a gaming PC 24/7?
At 300 W continuous draw and €0.30/kWh, a gaming PC left on 24/7 costs about €788 per year. Cut that to 8 hours per day of active gaming plus idle the rest and it drops to roughly €260/year. Sleep mode and turning the PC off when not in use are the biggest levers.
How do I calculate kWh from watts?
Multiply wattage by hours, then divide by 1,000. A 500 W device running for 4 hours uses 500 × 4 ÷ 1,000 = 2 kWh. Multiply by your electricity rate (e.g. €0.30/kWh) to get the cost.
What uses more electricity: an RTX 4090 or a typical fridge?
Peak power, the RTX 4090 wins (450 W vs roughly 100-150 W compressor draw). Annual consumption is the opposite: a fridge runs 24/7 at an average of 40-50 W, adding up to around 400 kWh/year — more than many gaming PCs used only a few hours daily.
Does a 1000 W PSU use 1000 W all the time?
No. A PSU is rated for its maximum output capacity; actual draw depends on what the components need. A system with a 1000 W PSU at idle might pull 80 W from the wall, jumping to 400-600 W under gaming load.
How much does an always-on TV or server cost per year?
At 100 W continuous draw and €0.30/kWh, any device running 24/7 costs €263/year. A home NAS at 50 W costs €131/year; a 65-inch OLED TV watched 4 hours/day at 150 W costs about €66/year.
Why is my electricity bill higher than the estimator predicts?
The estimator assumes the wattage you enter is the average over runtime. Real devices spike, idle, and have standby draw. Measure with a cheap wall-socket power meter for the most accurate baseline, then use the estimator to project costs for different usage scenarios.

Related tools

WebGPU Benchmark

Stress-test your GPU right in the browser with real WebGPU workloads and get a performance score.

Use tool ➜

RAM Latency Calculator

Convert DDR3/DDR4/DDR5 timings (CL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS) into true latency in nanoseconds.

Use tool ➜

RAID Calculator

Calculate usable capacity and fault tolerance for RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10.

Use tool ➜

Data Transfer Calculator

Estimate transfer times for files over USB, WiFi, Ethernet, and more.

Use tool ➜