Working out how much electricity a device consumes over a year comes down to two figures: its power draw in each operating mode and the hours it spends in each one. Televisions carry this information on their energy label, computers have a mandatory annual consumption figure that manufacturers must publish, and consoles lack dedicated regulation but still disclose wattage mode by mode. Anything missing can be measured with a plug-in power meter. This guide is for anyone who wants a figure for their own home rather than an internet average.
- The formula is universal: watts × hours per day × 365 ÷ 1,000 gives annual kWh, which you then multiply by your electricity price.
- Official data varies by device: TVs offer the clearest labelling, computers publish an annual total, and consoles depend on voluntary industry disclosures.
- Gaming PCs need direct measurement: official figures are not built around full-load consumption, so a meter is essential for accurate results.
The calculation itself is never the problem. What trips people up is that the wattage they find is often the maximum rating of the power supply, which bears little resemblance to what the device actually draws in practice.
What the TV energy label tells you
A television’s energy label reports consumption in on-mode as kWh per 1,000 hours, split between standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content, alongside an efficiency class from A to G. This format is set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2013, which has applied to electronic displays, televisions included, since 1 March 2021.
The per-1,000-hours format makes the maths straightforward. Take a set labelled at 70 kWh/1,000 h in SDR: watching four hours a day amounts to 1,460 hours a year, or 1.46 times 70, which comes to roughly 102 kWh. Heavy HDR viewers should run the same calculation with the second figure on the label.
The ecodesign regulation for displays, Regulation (EU) 2019/2021, also caps power use in the modes where the television is not actively on. How much those standby modes add over a year, and when it is worth unplugging, depends on your viewing habits and the specific set.
Computers: an annual figure almost nobody checks
Desktop computers, all-in-ones and laptops fall under their own ecodesign regulation, Regulation (EU) No 617/2013, still in force as of November 2026 with subsequent amendments. Since 1 July 2014 it has required manufacturers to publish, on freely accessible websites, the total annual energy consumption (ETEC) in kWh for each model, among other data.
That ETEC figure is built from what the machine draws when off, in standby and idle, over time periods defined by the standard. The regulation sets caps by computer category, with additional allowances for memory or a dedicated graphics card. It is genuinely useful for comparing two office machines against each other.
For a PC used for gaming or rendering, however, ETEC falls short: the standard is not constructed around full-load consumption, which is precisely when the machine draws the most. In that case the only honest number is the one you measure yourself.
Is there a consumption regulation for consoles?
Not as such. Rather than a specific regulation, the European Union relies on a voluntary industry agreement, the Games Consoles Voluntary Agreement, formally recognised by the European Commission in 2015 and signed by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Among other measures, it mandates automatic shutdown after 20 minutes of inactivity in most modes (four hours when playing multimedia content) and sets power limits for menus and media playback. Standby modes are covered by general European rules, Regulation (EU) 2023/826.
The useful part for your own calculation is that manufacturers publish their measurements. Sony, for instance, details the wattage of the PS5 model CFI-21 digital, with a test date of 02/05/2026, listing 215.7 W while playing PS5 games in HD (averaged across three titles), 43.4 W in the main menu, 0.30 W in low-power rest mode by default, 0.84 W in rest mode while staying connected to the internet, and 4.65 W in rest mode while supplying power to USB ports.
With those figures, someone who plays two hours a day and leaves the console in rest mode the rest of the time would use about 157.5 kWh a year gaming. The remaining 22 hours in low-power rest mode add roughly 2.4 kWh. Switch rest mode to USB power delivery for charging controllers and those same hours jump to about 37.3 kWh — fifteen times more, thanks to a setting almost nobody remembers changing.
Measuring it yourself in four steps
When no official figure exists, or you do not trust it, a plug-in power meter settles the question. Smart plugs with energy monitoring work just as well.
- Measure each mode separately. Gaming, streaming, sitting idle at the desktop, and off or in standby. Leave a few minutes in each, since consumption fluctuates.
- Record real hours. Not what you think, but what actually happens: a normal week of notes beats any estimate.
- Calculate per mode. Watts in each mode × daily hours in that mode × 365 ÷ 1,000. Add the results together.
- Convert to euros using your bill. Multiply the kWh by the price you pay. As a worked example, at 0.15 euros per kWh (a round number for the calculation, not an official average), the 157.5 kWh PS5 example would come to about 23.6 euros a year.
If your meter reports accumulated kWh rather than watts, so much the better: leave it connected for a full week and multiply by 52. It captures peaks, standby periods and forgotten sessions without any calculation on your part.
The clearest lesson from the official data is that the consumption easiest to cut without giving anything up lies not in gaming hours or streaming sessions, but in default settings and intermediate modes: rest mode feeding the USB ports, the console left sitting in the main menu (over 43 W on the PS5 example), or the PC left running all afternoon with nobody using it. The figures are published; cross-referencing them with your own hours remains your job, and it is the only approach that produces a number valid for your home.