Power bills soaring? Turn off the Playstation

subscribe

Don't blame the fridge for your steep power bills - an Australian consumer agency study has found that videogame consoles and plasma flat-screen TVs are major electricity guzzlers, even when left on stand-by.

The recent study by Choice said Sony Corp's Playstation 3, closely followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and plasma television sets, consumed the most power out of a list of 16 electronic devices tested, including laptops, stereo systems and DVD players.

"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 website.

"The plasma TV set was also a power hungry device, consuming over four times more power than a traditional analogue set. The average desktop computer was third on the list."

The report advised consumers to switch off their electronic devices at the source, rather than just from the remote control, which puts them on power-consuming stand-by mode. "This saves on money, not to mention carbon emissions," it added.

Related News

oeb chart

Electricity rates are about to change across Ontario

TORONTO - Electricity rates are about to change for users across Ontario.

On November 1, households and small businesses will see their electricity rates go down under the Ontario Energy Board's (OEB) Regulated Price Plan.

Customer's on the OEB's tiered pricing plan will also see their bills lowered on November 1, as winter time-of-use hours and the seasonal change in the killowatt-hour threshold take effect.

Off-peak time-of-use hours will run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. during weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays. On-peak hours will be from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays,…

READ MORE
iran nuclear plant

Magnitude 5 quake strikes near Iran nuclear plant

READ MORE

hungarys-quiet-alliance-with-russia-in-europes-energy-landscape

Hungary's Quiet Alliance with Russia in Europe's Energy Landscape

READ MORE

Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Plant Breaks A First Refueling Outage Record

READ MORE

pge-rates-set-to-stabilize-in-2025

PG&E Rates Set to Stabilize in 2025

READ MORE