Energy Star Eyes Power-Hogging Gaming Consoles

Gaming consoles have gotten a rep for energy hogging as of late, and Energy Star is finally starting to take notice. The new 5.0 Energy Star requirements will set more stringent standards for the power consumption of the devices, including Wii, Xbox and Playstation.  The Playstation 3 was in the news over the summer for reportedly using five times more energy in a year (turned off!) than an average-sized refrigerator.

From Treehugger:

The draft of the 5.0 version (not online yet) hopes to encourage manufacturers to get serious about better designs right quick to help limit the energy use of these widely used devices.

With an effective date of July 1, 2010, manufacturers should have some time between the new standards set in 2009 and the next round of consoles coming off the lines in 2010 to create energy efficient devices.

The new requirements include using less than one watt during off mode, and less than 5 watts during sleep or auto-off mode. The consoles will have to power down to sleep mode after an hour of inactivity. Also, Set Top Box and DVD/Blu Ray/Movie playback functions have to come within 10% of the Energy Star set top box requirements set out in April of this year.

It’s about time. We’re glad Energy Star is finally taking a look at this problem so all of the eco geek gamers out there can get back to playing Star Wars: KOTOR without guilt.

Link [Treehugger]

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