How much does a games console (PS5) cost to run?
About 5.3p an hour in the UK and 3.7¢ an hour in the US. A games console (PS5) draws about 200 W for as long as it is on. Menus idle near 50 W; a demanding game is the number quoted here.
What it costs, by how long it runs
| Running for | kWh | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 0.033 | 0.88p | 0.61¢ |
| An hour | 0.2 | 5.3p | 3.7¢ |
| An 8-hour night | 1.6 | 42p | 29¢ |
| A full day (24 hours) | 4.8 | £1.26 | 88¢ |
| A month at 8 hours a day | 48 | £12.63 | $8.80 |
UK prices use the Ofgem price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 (direct debit, average across England, Scotland and Wales, with no VAT on electricity this winter): 26.32p per kWh (Ofgem). The standing charge of 54.83p a day is paid whatever you run, so it is left out. US prices use the US average residential price for June 2026 from the Energy Information Administration: 18.34¢ per kWh (EIA). Your own tariff is on your bill; scale the figures by it.
Measure your own
These are typical figures for a typical unit. A plug-in energy monitor between the socket and the appliance shows the real watts and adds up the kWh, so after a day or a week you know exactly what it costs on your tariff.
Compared with similar appliances
| Appliance | Average W | UK per hour | US per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch (docked) | 18 | 0.47p | 0.33¢ |
| TV, 32 inch LED | 45 | 1.2p | 0.83¢ |
| TV, 43 inch LED | 70 | 1.8p | 1.3¢ |
| TV, 55 inch LED | 110 | 2.9p | 2¢ |
| TV, 65 inch LED | 150 | 3.9p | 2.8¢ |
| Games console (PS5) | 200 | 5.3p | 3.7¢ |
| Projector | 250 | 6.6p | 4.6¢ |
Running it in a power cut
See which power station will run a games console (PS5), and for how long.
Appliance draw modelled on web.archive.org. The US Department of Energy retired this page in 2025; the link is the Internet Archive's June 2024 capture. The figures remain typical ranges for a typical unit, not a specification.
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