The setting that's quietly running up the bill
Xbox Series X and Series S consoles ship with ‘Instant-On’ as the factory-default power mode, which wakes the console in a few seconds instead of the 10–15 it takes to boot cold. The trade-off is standby draw: independent testing puts Instant-On standby at roughly ten times the power of the console's own ‘Energy saving’ alternative, which sips under a watt. Mongabay's reporting on a Natural Resources Defense Council analysis of the setting estimated that if two-thirds of Xbox Series X/S owners keep the default Instant-On mode, it would add up to 4 billion kilowatt-hours of wasted electricity across the US market by 2025, a target year that has now passed, about $500 million in extra utility bills for a feature most owners never actively chose, only ever left switched on.
Run the same maths on the site's own state rates and it's a real number here too, not just a US statistic: at 20 hours a day in standby (the other 4 hours mirrors our TV calculator's own worked example), Instant-On costs $20 (ACT) to $28 (SA) a year against under $3 anywhere on Energy saving, a gap of $18 to $25 a year, the table above has your own state. Switching costs nothing and takes one trip into the console's power settings.
What this costs, state by state
An Xbox Series X/S left on its factory-default ‘Instant-On’ standby the 20 hours a day it isn't being played, against the identical console switched to ‘Energy saving’ standby instead, at each state's current reference electricity rate.
| State | Rate | Instant-On standby (default) | Energy saving standby | Yearly saving from switching |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 32.4¢ | $23.65 | $2.13 | $21.52 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | $21.75 | $1.96 | $19.80 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | $22.78 | $2.05 | $20.73 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | $27.81 | $2.50 | $25.31 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | $24.53 | $2.21 | $22.32 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | $21.10 | $1.90 | $19.20 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | $20.00 | $1.80 | $18.20 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | $23.14 | $2.08 | $21.06 |
Reference rates for 2026–27. Your row is highlighted once you set your location.
PS5's risk is a habit, not a default
Sony doesn't ship an Instant-On-style default the way Xbox does, PS5's rest mode is low-power out of the box, and the console's real standby cost only climbs if you turn on the options to keep charging a controller or downloading games while resting. The bigger risk with a PS5 is a different habit entirely: leaving it sitting on the home screen rather than letting it sleep. Stealth Optional's own reporting on Digital Foundry's testing found a PS5 pulling 200 W running Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but still drawing 47 W just idling on the menu, well above either Xbox standby figure above. Three hours most evenings is this page's own estimate of a typical idling stretch, the same kind of round evening figure our TV calculator's own hours-a-night default uses elsewhere on this site, and at that rate leaving a PS5 parked on the menu instead of resting adds up to roughly $14 (ACT) to $20 (SA) a year, using the same per-state rates as the table above. The fix is the same one-off habit either brand rewards: let the console actually go to sleep or rest instead of leaving it parked on a menu.
The Nintendo Switch barely registers next to either. Nintendo's own typical draw sits between 3 and 18 W depending on whether it's docked or handheld and what's on screen, and sleep mode cuts that further still, on the low end of every figure in this guide, standby or otherwise, which is why a Switch left permanently docked has never been the appliance worth chasing for savings the way a TV, aircon or dryer is elsewhere on this site.
Common questions
Is the PS5 or Xbox worse for standby power?
It depends on the setting, not the brand. PS5's rest mode is low-power by default; Xbox's Instant-On isn't. But a PS5 left sitting on its home screen rather than resting draws 47 W by Digital Foundry's own testing, more than either Xbox standby figure, so the real risk on PS5 is leaving it idling on a menu, not a bad default setting.
Does turning the console off at the wall save more than switching the standby setting?
Only if it's still left on Instant-On. Switching an Xbox to Energy saving standby already gets it to under $3 a year, close enough to fully off that unplugging on top of that saves very little further. The setting change does almost all of the work; the wall switch is worth it mainly as a backup for anyone who doesn't want to dig through the console's menu.
Does the TV itself waste power the same way a console does?
Yes, though the culprit is usually a picture setting rather than standby. See our companion guide on whether picture mode changes what your TV costs to run for the same free-setting-change story on the screen the console is plugged into.
Sources
Xbox ‘Instant-On’ vs ‘Energy saving’ standby draw and the NRDC's US-market waste estimate (4 billion kWh, $500 million by 2025 if two-thirds of owners keep the default), quoted directly: Mongabay, Playing dangerously: the environmental impact of video gaming consoles. PS5 and Xbox Series X gameplay, idle and powered-off wattage (Eurogamer/Digital Foundry's own measurements, Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Gears 5): Stealth Optional, PS5 Power Consumption. Nintendo Switch typical draw range: AEA, How Many Watts Does a Nintendo Switch Use? Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer and each state's regulated reference tariff, current for 2026–27. All fetched July 2026.