Technology Blog

posted by on Jun 3

While there are many things that are debated about between consoles these days, one thing is certain, the Sony Play Station 3 is the Hummer of consoles. It is well built, for sure, but I was not talking about that. I was speaking of the amount of energy it uses over a years time.

In Australia, the idea of ‘green’ is taken less lightly than on this side of the ocean, so an agency called Choice (seems to be somewhat like Consumer Union, publisher of Consumer Reports) has declared the PS3 a real energy hog, using more electricity over a year than a small refrigerator. Perhaps they are unaware of the beneficial nature of the PS3 in the colder climes! Comparisons to the Nintendo Wii have that unit being a solid green citizen by comparison.

from Wired

Aussie consumer agency Choice has put together a study of the power consumption of everyday household appliances and, surprise surprise, the leaf blower that is the PS3 comes out at the bottom of the league. Sony’s console burns through 31.74 kWh per week when idling, which is five times the energy used by a refrigerator, and ten times the juice sipped by the Wii.

To be fair, a fridge is left on 24/7, whereas a console tends to be switched into standby mode a lot of the time. Those lazy readers who need a little prodding should take note of the costs of leaving their PlayStation running: over a year, it adds up to US$237. Compared to this, the MacBook Pro — not usually known for running cool — looks as thirsty as a desert cactus, a using only 3.66 kWh per week; almost one tenth the appetite of the PS3.

So, switching off between sessions could save enough cash to actually buy a Wii. Alternatively, you could put the hot PS3 inside the cold refrigerator and watch as your energy costs spiral out of control, laughing as the ozone layer burns away over your head and the melting ice caps bring the beach to your doorstep. You choose.

You might want to use the unit a little less, switch it off when not in use, rather than letting it idle, – oh, and it would probably be a bad idea to let your parents see this…

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Technorati Tags: PS3 - Sony - Play Station 3 - energy conservation - Choice - Australia - green - Hummer

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