How Much Electricity Does a PS3 Use?
The Sony PlayStation 3, which debuted in 2006 before the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets, is far from new. And while it has sold for over a decade, the console may not boast the luxurious graphics and technical innovations of the current generation of systems, but it is still a great option if your budget is tight. But when it comes to power consumption, how much electricity it consumes? In this article, we will go through all the details about the power consumption of PS3 and PS3 Slim.
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How Much Electricity Does a PS3 Use?
How Much Electricity Does a PS3 Use? If your playing PS3 with a normal LED TV you will use approximately 230 watts (170 watts for the PS3 + 60 watts for the TV). During the 3h gaming session, the electricity consumption will be 690 Watt-hours, which will cost you about 9 cents (13 cents per kWh is the average price in the United States).
Despite PlayStation 3 has a 380 W power supply it only consumes 170-200 W during game mode on 90 nm Cell CPU. The newer 40GB PlayStation 3 model that comes with 65 nm Cell CPU/90 nm RSX consumes from 120-140 W during normal use. PlayStation 3 Slim with 45 nm Cell CPU/40 nm RSX consumes from 65-84 W during normal use.
In this table you can see exactly how much power does each PS3 model consume in different mode:
| Model: | PS3 | PS3 Slim |
|---|---|---|
| Standby | 1.22 W | 0.36 W |
| Idle operation | 171.35 W | 75.19 W |
| Blu-ray | 172.79 W | 80.90 W |
| YouTube | 181.28 W | 85.08 W |
| Play (idle) | 200.84 W | 95.35 W |
| Play (full load) | 205.90 W | 100.04 W |
I wrote a similar article for PS4 power consumption, so if you are interested, you can read it: How Much Electricity Does a PS4 Use. If we compare PS3 power consumption with other popular consoles, we can see that Xbox 360 uses 187 watts in the gaming mode, while the Nintendo Wii uses only 40 watts in gaming mode. Let’s go a little deeper into the topic.
Power Consumption Comparison: PS3 Vs PS3 Slim
Depending on which PS3 model you have, the power consumption in standby and operation is comparatively high or low. It is also the occasion to announce that if the PS3 Slim consumes less energy – 34% of the economy according to Sony – it remains nonetheless greedy compared to a Blu-ray player. So let’s take a closer look at power features:
1. Power Consumption of the Original PS3
You can recognize the first-generation PS3 by its thick, curved housing. The power consumption is relatively high here:
- The PS3 consumes around 170 watts when idling, i.e. when you are in the main menu.
- The Blu-ray playback and watching YouTube videos consume around 180 watts. Under full load with demanding games, the PS3 console can consume a full 200 watts in these situations.
- In standby (when only the red light is on) the power consumption is still a comparatively high 1.22 watts. It is therefore worth disconnecting the console completely if you will not be using it for a long time.
2. Power Consumption of the PS3 Slim
The newer versions of the PS 3 in the slim version are not only thinner, but also significantly more energy-efficient:
- The PS3 Slim consumes around 75 watts when idling, i.e. when you are in the main menu.
- Blu-ray and watching Youtube videos consume around 80 watts. The power consumption under full load has also been reduced: Here the PS3 Slim only draws around 100 watts.
- In the standby mode, the power consumption is only 0.36 watts, the PS3 is on par with current televisions and receivers.
How Many Watts Does a PS3 Use?
The PS3 (first-generation) uses around 200 watts in the gaming mode, 173 watts if you play a Blu-ray movie and 171 watts when it is idling. The PS3 slim model use dramatically less power, 70 W during normal use. Therefore, if you want to know exactly how much power does PS3 uses per hour, just multiply the power consumption by 1 hour.
- The „fat“ PS3 uses 170 Wh (watt-hours).
- The PS3 Slim uses 70 Wh (watt-hours)
If watt-hours mean nothing to you, we will now recalculate how much money that really is. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do, and it requires only a few steps. Electricity providers in the US and in the World bill their electricity in terms of c/kWh. First, you need to know that a kilowatt-hour is 1000 watt-hours. If we convert watt-hours into kWh we get:
- The „fat“ PS3 is 0.170 kWh
- The PS3 Slim is 0.070 kWh
Now we need to see what is the price of electricity in your country. Keep in mind that this will vary from place to place. We will use the average electricity price in the US that’s 13 c/kWh. Multiply the amounts of electricity above with cents, and we’ll get an answer!
- The „fat“ PS3: 0.170 kWh x 13 c/kWh =2 cents per hour
- The PS3 Slim: 0.070 kWh x 13 c/kWh = 0.91 cents per hour
Example: (170 Watts x 3 hours per day x 365) ÷ 1000 = 186 kWh. The average electricity cost in the US is 13 cents per kWh. 186 kWh x 0.13 = $24.18 cost per year! So that’s $2,01 per month.
Keep in mind that Play Station 5 uses a lot more electricity than PS3 and PS4.
How to Actually Measure Power Consumption?
To measure PS3 electricity usage, one of the methods is to use Kill A Watt Meter. With this device, you can easily measure any electric device and see how much energy it consumes. So, if you want to know how much power exactly your PS3 consumes, buy Kill A Watt meter. You can check the price on Amazon HERE. With this device, you could measure all electrical devices in your home easily. Pretty cool device if you ask me.
Tips For Saving Electricity on the PS3
If you want to reduce the energy consumption of your PlayStation 3, follow these tips. Although the savings are not great, any savings are good. So why not take advantage?
- Blu-ray player: If you need to watch some movie, use a Blu-ray player instead of your PS3 because you will consume less power.
- Use a switchable multiple sockets: With it, you can switch off all devices easily so it won’t consume electricity when you are not using your PS3.
- Sleep mode: When you are not playing it is good to turn on the sleep mode rather than leave the PlayStation on.
Does the PS3 Consume Power When Turned Off?
Yes, PlayStation 3 consumes power even when it is turned off. It takes only a small amount of power, more precisely 0.45 W on a red light which is turned on even when the PS3 is offline. It applies only if your PS3 is connected to a power source. This is a very negligible amount of energy and it will not affect your electricity bill in any way.
PS3 Could Cost You $227 Per Year
What if your PS3 would run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? How much would your electricity bill be? A study was conducted in which many home electrical appliances were tested, including the PS3. If we assume that the PS3 operates at 200 W, 24 hours per day, 365 days in a year, it will consume 1752 kWh in a whole year. It will cost you $227!
Final Thoughts
When it comes to electricity consumption, we all try to keep it as low as possible. Having a sense of how much each device actually consumes is very useful information so you can have a better insight into your account. If you play your PS3 for a couple of hours each day, it’s good to know how much it will affect your energy bill. We’ve gone through a lot of examples in this article and you’ve now got a much better insight. I hope you got the quality answer you were looking for in this article.
