The price of energy is expected to surge once again this winter, especially in the U.K., so now is the time to start evaluating your energy usage and make some small changes to reduce your consumption. And if you happen to own an Xbox Series X console, then you need to take advantage of the Energy Saver mode right now.
Earlier today a social media post from Alex Hern, technology editor of U.K. publication the Guardian, sparked a debate around how much power was consumed by the Xbox Series X when leaving it in its standby mode. And even though Hern’s original math was apparently slightly off, The Verge’s Tom Warren joined the conversation to explain that having your Xbox Series X console set to Standby mode could cost around £59/$68 a year at current rates.
At current electricity prices, leaving an Xbox Series X on "standby", its default switched off mode, will cost you £132 a year. Dip into settings and toggle it over to "energy saver". (By contrast, the PS5's default costs around £4).September 5, 2022
That’s a pretty sizable amount of money to be paying just for the privilege of not fully powering down your console after a play session. But don’t worry, you don’t have to resort to a full shutdown every time your finish gaming because the Xbox Series X offers an Energy Saver mode that consumes 20 times less power than the console’s Standby mode according to Microsoft.
Previously setting the console to Energy Saver came with the fairly big catch that in this mode the console couldn’t download game updates or system firmware, but a recent console update removed this restriction. Now the main difference between the two modes is that Energy Saver takes a few extra seconds to boot up compared to Standby. That’s a trade-off we’ll happily make in order to save the cost of a brand new video game per year.
In the wake of this long overdue update, Microsoft made Energy Saver mode the default rest mode for the console, but if you purchased your Xbox Series X prior to that switch then your console may still be set to Standby mode. So, if you want to make sure your console is set to Energy Saver mode, it only takes a matter of seconds.
Firstly, head over to the Settings menu on your Xbox Series X console. From there, click the Sleep mode & Start-up option located in the General tab.
Then navigate across to the column marked Sleep Mode and from here you can select either Energy Saver or Standby mode, select your desired setting and you’re all sorted.
That’s all you need to do to switch your Xbox Series X to Energy Saver mode. Do note that this mode doesn’t completely stop your console from consuming power when not in use (only a full shutdown does this). But it greatly reduces the amount of energy consumed without much loss of functionality.
It’s a small energy saving trick that could have a surprisingly sizable impact on your bills. And one we urge you do, even if it's just to help reduce the consumption of energy and thus your carbon footprint.
Read next: Microsoft is launching a new Power options menu on Xbox, which also shows how much power it uses
