Game Consoles Raise Your Electricity Bill, Study Shows

A new study by Australian consumer agency Choice shows that game consoles, especially the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, use significant power even when they’re not in use.

“Our tests found that leaving a Playstation 3 on while not in use would cost almost… five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period,” said the study which was published on Choice’s web site.

Right behind the Playstation and Xbox in the electricity-sucking list is plasma televisions and desktop computers. To save money on your bill, turn off the power strip the consoles and TV is plugged into instead of relying solely on the remote control. Here are more ways you can save energy while computing.