Xbox energy saver modes could save you up to £5 per month in the UK

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

If you own an Xbox in the UK or Europe, it might be a good idea to check out the energy mode. The consoles could cost up to £5 per month next month for many households in the UK and Europe due to rising energy costs.

There are two power modes on the XBOX consoles. Instant On keeps the Xbox One S and Xbox Series S / X consoles in a mode that consumes between 11 and 13 watt and allows players to instantly resume games. The Energy Saver mode only consumes a small amount of energy, but you have to fully boot up the console before you can play again.

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Microsoft has made Energy Saver mode the default on the consoles, but millions of them will use the more convenient Instant On mode. This can be expensive over time. If you keep an Xbox Series X in Instant On standby mode for 24 hours a day, it will add up to around 50p per kWh for the month. Alex Hern highlighted the potential costs of the Instant On mode on the social networking site.

The older Xbox One S consoles consume around 11 watt in Instant On mode, so that equates to a monthly cost of just over four dollars. It is possible to reduce usage to less than 20p per month. There are different rates of energy use for playing games and streaming movies on the XBOX consoles.

Microsoft has recently sped up the boot time of its consoles in order to make it easier to use. The boot process on the Series X is now 5 seconds faster than it was before. You will have to wait around 15 seconds from the time you press the power button to play a game on the Series X or S console.

If you own a PS4 you may want to look at which mode you use. There are different types of off and on modes for the PS4 and it can be used to download software updates. The default mode only uses a small amount of power, but other modes can use much more. With networking enabled in the rest mode, the PS5 can use up to 2 watt. It may be worth it given the unpredictability of energy prices in the coming months.

If you own a Nintendo Switch, there isn't much to worry about. The switch only uses 7 watt in TV mode, which is less than the xbox's Instant On mode. The switch can use up to half a watt when powered off. It is time to pray for the energy prices in Europe to go down.