Gaming

Nintendo Wii power consumption

28 Comments

I’ve been wondering how much power my Wii takes when sitting there in half-standby mode, so I decided to plug in my power meter and find out.

My results were:

  • Wii powered on + playing – 18-19 Watts
  • WiiConnect24 mode (orange LED) – 9-10 Watts
  • Standby (red LED) – 1 Watt

WiiConnect24 isn’t really all that useful, so I’ve turned it off. It means the system won’t update automatically, but I think I can live with going to ‘system update’ in the Wii settings menu now and then. 9-10 Watts isn’t a huge amount of power to draw (about the same as a reasonably efficient CFL low-energy bulb) but it still adds up.

Looking at npower’s current prices, it’s 14.88p per kWH for the first 728 kWH units, then 7.63p per kWH unit after that. Assuming a continous 10 Watt drain, that means it draws 1kWH for every 100 hours in standby. By my calculations, at the higher rate that’s about £13 per year, and at the lower rate, about £6.70 per year. Okay, when you look at it like that it’s not really a big deal :)

28 thoughts on “Nintendo Wii power consumption”

  2. I think you’re right about that, as long as you don’t live in a cave, the updates get broadcast across the internet.

  4. You are right, the cost does mount up when you think about the consumption over a year. Think of all the wasted money if every Wii in existance was left on standby. TV’s use nearly the same amount of electricity when in standby mode than if left turned on.

    I don’t think it would do any harm updating as and when required. I’d rather that than leave my console on ‘semi-on’ mode all the time. That can’t do it any good.

    Andy

  5. Very good post, standby consumption on electronic devices really add up. Tv, game systems, computers, etc. Over time, it adds up.

  7. Well, Wii power consumption isn’t that big of a deal for me either. It’s just so fun to play that we don’t even think about that. But thanks for bringing that to our attention. Have you tried the Wii Fit? It’s awesome!

  8. I just want a Wii Fit so I can use up my own energy. If I give out enough heat, we can save on our fuel bills and reduce the carbon footprint in a different way!

  9. i always unplug my wii when im not using it as it still uses power, and here in ireland the cost of energy rose 30% last month. thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  10. thanks for sharing this, i always make sure to unplug my wii and all other gadgets/electronics when not in use as the price of energy is soaring here in ireland,but thats just me

  15. My Wii is on 15 hours daily, and my bills for power aren’t high, consumption of energy is not high, i wonder how much energy use other consoles :)

  18. While individually it may not be a great deal of energy but multiply that out by all the wii in the world and it’s possibly eating a lot of power that perhaps we could be conserving?

  19. wow i did not realise that it used that much even in standby. you have to think with all goods on standby (pc, xbox 360, ps3, wii, lcd) they are going to use alot of energy.

  20. I doubt that by combining all the wiis in the world it would conserve the energy that much! There are much bigger issues as far as energy consumption is concerned.

  22. I doubt this would add much to your electricity bill, but at least with all other appliances being turned off its a step in the right direction. As for using a timer plug, that’s a recipe for disaster 2am and you’re just about to complet Force Unleased and your Wii switches off!

  28. Wii bundles are great value and give you the most for your money. Regarding the consumption then why not remember to unplug it when your done. So many people leave it on stand by

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