There’s a little-known setting in your Xbox that could save you money on your energy bill this winter.
Consoles’ Energy Saver mode reduces the amount of electricity they consume, saving you up to £5 per month in the UK
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There’s a setting in your Xbox that could save you money on your energy billsCredit: Getty
This may prove handy for those of us trying to tighten our purse strings as life crises bite costs.
The average household energy bill is expected to triple this coming winter as the energy cap on prices in the UK rises to 80 per cent
In response to skyrocketing prices, Britons are looking for new ways to cut their use of electricity and gas.
One option for gamers is to switch their Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S consoles to Energy Saver mode.
This is one of two power modes offered by Microsoft on its gaming powerhouse.
The first is Instant On, which puts the Series X/X console in standby mode that consumes between 11 and 13 watts.
Instant On keeps the console ready to boot up at any time, allowing players to resume games immediately.
However, it consumes significantly more power than the Series X/S console in Energy Saver mode.
When swapped to that less power-hungry mode, your console only consumes 0.5 watts.
However, you need to fully boot your console every time you turn it on, a process that takes up to 15 seconds.
According to the Guardian’s UK technology editor Alex Hearn, switching can save you up to £5 per month in the UK
“At current power prices, leaving the Xbox Series X on ‘standby’, its default switch off mode, will cost you £132 per year,” he said. tweeted on Monday.
“Dive into Settings and toggle it on ‘Energy Saver’.”
PlayStations have a similar mode, but Sony’s consoles consume far less energy than the average Xbox.
Sony’s latest console, the PlayStation 5, costs around £4 a year when in standby mode, even with the latest expected price hike.
Those who bought their consoles before May 2022 will be the hardest hit, as Microsoft has since rolled out an energy-saving mode for consoles.
This high price affects the more than 1.15 million people who got their Xbox console before this date.
Even if you bought the Xbox Series X before this date, don’t worry, there is still a way to change your power consumption settings.
Boot your console and go to ‘Settings’. Under ‘General Settings’ you should see an option for ‘Sleep Mode and Start-up’.
If you go here you will see a drop box under ‘Sleep Mode’ with two options: “Standby” or “Energy Saver”.
If you bought your console after May, “Energy Saver” should be the default option.
Families are experiencing distress as the cost of living crisis worsens, with UK inflation now exceeding a 40-year high of 10 per cent.
Rising energy prices, in particular, are due to become a heavy burden on homes across the country this winter.
And pub landlords have sounded the alarm that thousands of drinkers across the country could be forced to close their doors because they are unable to afford their bills.
The jump is a result of the lingering effects of Covid, with Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe in response to sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
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