At the Ofgem cap rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026, a games console rated 150W costs about 11.8p a use and £43.23 a year when 3 hours a time, once a day.
| Per hour of running | 3.9p |
|---|---|
| Per use | 11.8p |
| Per day | 11.8p |
| Per year | £43.23 (164 kWh) |
Calculated at 26.32p per kWh, the capped electricity unit rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026 on a standard variable tariff paid by direct debit. Electricity carries no VAT in that period, so this is the full unit price. The 54.83p daily standing charge is not included, because you pay that whether or not anything is switched on.
Two things worth knowing about that figure. The cap limits the unit rate, not your bill, so using more still costs more. And it is a Great Britain average: the actual capped rate is set per region, so your own rate could move these numbers either way. It is on your bill.
Games console has no thermostat cycling it on and off, so the running cost is simply the rated power multiplied by the time it is switched on. Short bursts of high wattage cost less than people expect.
Figures for games console run from about 40W to 220W. Draw depends on what is running. Menus and streaming video sit well below the figure for a demanding game. The standby mode matters more than it sounds: rest or instant-on modes keep the console drawing several watts continuously so it can download updates, which adds up over a year.
Turn off instant-on or rest mode if you do not need overnight downloads. Streaming video through a console draws far more than a dedicated streaming stick doing the same job.
Ignoring standby. A console in rest mode all year can cost more than several hours a week of actual play.
Annual running cost against the appliances closest to it, on the same assumptions. The ordering surprises people: short bursts of very high wattage usually cost less than something modest left on for hours.
| Appliance | Per year |
|---|---|
| Electric oven | £67.25 |
| Laptop | £46.11 |
| Games console | £43.23 |
| Air conditioner | £41.45 |
| Television | £38.43 |
Across a year, a games console on these assumptions is about 6.6% of a typical annual electricity bill of £658.00 at these rates.
The figures here use the capped rate. If you are on a fixed tariff, or you want to add several appliances together, put your own unit rate into the energy cost calculator on the homepage.