Xbox energy-saving mode explained – cut costs and power consumption

29 April 2023 , 09:00

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Xbox Series S Console with White Controller (Image: Photo by Louis-Philippe Poitras on Unsplash)

With the rising cost of energy, using power-saving mode on your Xbox console can save you more money than you think. Here's how to utilise it.

Whether you have a Xbox Series S or an Xbox Series X, you can advantage of Xbox's power-saving feature. Without this mode enabled, your console will automatically go into sleep mode rather than shutting down entirely, which means it still draws and consumes power. This consumption, despite being small, can quickly rack up extra costs on your energy bill.

But when swapping to shut-down (energy-saving) mode, your console will take longer to switch back on, up to 45 seconds, and you won't be able to wake it up with your voice, but it uses less power as a result. After an update earlier this year, Xbox consoles are now automatically going into energy-saver mode, but if you find that yours still isn't, here's how to turn it on.

How to enable energy-saving mode on Xbox

When you swap to shut-down mode, otherwise known as energy-saving mode, this will be the new default whenever you power off your system. In order to make this switch you'll need to:

1. Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
2. Select 'profile and system', followed by 'settings', then 'general' and lastly 'power options'.

3. Then you can select the 'Shut-down (energy saving)' option.

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This will now ensure that your console fully shuts down whenever you normally power it off instead of going into sleep mode. If you want to change back to sleep mode being activated when you turn off your console then follow the same instructions and then select the alternative shutdown option.

How much energy does my Xbox consume?

You'll find that your Xbox Series X console will be consuming around 153 W per hour during active gameplay. When in sleep mode, it will consume 13 W per hour, but when in shut-down (energy-saving) mode, it will only consume 0.5 W per hour. This is a significant difference, so be sure to take advantage.

The Xbox Series S uses much less power, consuming only 74 W per hour when in active gameplay. This is likely down to the fact that its output isn't as demanding as the Xbox Series X. When in sleep mode, it will consume 10 W per hour and when in shut-down mode it will consume just 0.4 W per hour.

Jasmine Mannan