Today, more than 40 percent of all homes in the United States contain at least one video game console. The NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) and Ecos Consulting found that game consoles consume an estimated 16 billion kilowatt hours per year-roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego.

This estimate is based on the assumption that half of all users leave their device on all the time. The energy consumed can be significantly reduced through simple steps like turning off the console when not actively playing a game and enabling power management features when available.

The single most effective way to save energy is to power down your system-after saving your game if necessary-when not actively playing. If you own a console with a power saving feature such as auto power-off after a preset time, use it. To learn more about setting up this feature, visit www.nrdc.org/energy/consoles/contents.asp.

For more information on the energy use and video game consoles, view the fact sheet complied by the NRDC and ECOS consulting:
     Improving the Energy Efficiency of Video Game Consoles

or visit: http://www.simplesteps.org