Game consoles can provide hours of entertainment. Not only can you use the device to play hundreds of video games, many also come with internet connection, the capacity for two-way communication between players and the ability to stream content, such as movies or TV shows.

New game consoles are extremely popular and widely used, especially in homes with children. But they also come at a cost. When considering buying a new gaming system, you need to factor in more than the $300 to $400 you’ll spend on the device. You also need to consider the cost of powering it.

According to a study by the National Resources Defense Council, the latest game consoles—Nintendo Wii U, Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One—cost consumers more than $1 billion each year in electricity costs. That’s about 10 to 11 billion kilowatt hours annually. To put that in perspective, the energy used by game consoles is equivalent to the electricity used by all of the homes in Houston, the fourth-largest city in America.

Even though up-to-date game consoles come with a number of energy saving features, NRDC’s report shows that they still use more energy than previous generations. That’s likely because they are loaded with extras, such as voice control, higher processing speeds and better graphics.

Higher energy use during standby mode seems to be the biggest issue behind these high-tech devices. Standby mode is the function the device reverts to when it’s not in use, but is technically still on. It waits in standby mode so that when someone in your household wants to play a game or stream a video it can start up much more quickly.

This is a major problem for the Xbox One, which allows users to operate the device using voice commands. According to the NRDC nearly half of the annual energy consumed by the Xbox One is from standby mode. In fact, the console draws 15 watts of energy continuously while it waits for a user’s command.

As these new devices become more prevalent, the situation will get even worse. According to the NRDC, if everyone with an Xbox 360 upgraded to the Xbox One, this single feature would cost consumers $400 million annually in electricity costs.

Another energy waster is online streaming. Today’s modern consoles also come with the ability to access the internet, which also means they can connect to Netflix, Hulu, streaming music services and more. And while this is a handy feature, game consoles haven’t yet found the efficiency of other streaming devices such as Apple TV, Roku or a Blu-ray player.  According to the NRDC both the PS4 and Xbox One use 30 to 45 times the amount of energy to stream a movie than these devices.

Tips for stopping the energy waste

While game consoles have the potential to waste a lot of electricity, there are certain steps you can take to minimize your operating costs.

• Unplug your game console. It can’t waste energy in standby mode if it’s not connected to the outlet.  
• Use Auto Power Down mode. You game console should have a power down mode, or something similar, that allows you to control when your device enters into standby mode. Basically, you tell the system to power down to standby mode after it has been inactive for a certain amount of time. While using standby mode still uses electricity, it’s considerably less than it would use if you left it in an active power mode.
• Don’t use your game console to stream. The latest game consoles do not stream content efficiently. To avoid the energy waste, use an alternative streaming method. A smart TV, Blu-ray player, tablet or a streaming device should allow you to access the movies and music you want, without tacking on a ton to your energy bill.