When domestic energy costs rise during colder weather, gamers and tech enthusiasts look for ways to keep their electricity bills down without compromising their gaming, or their gaming systems. But what’s the secret to making your gaming setup more energy efficient during winter? Now, an expert reveals all.
“Relocating your gaming setup to the right spot in your home during winter can save energy and therefore money,” says gaming setup specialist Marin Cristian-Ovidiu, CEO of FreezeNova Games. “This is especially useful for those running multiple devices, which can overheat, and so use more energy when not positioned optimally.”
Here, Marin recommends a gaming setup specially designed for the cold months.
The Ideal Gaming Setup for Winter
Marin suggests the following top-tips for energy efficient winter gaming at home.
- Stay cool: If your gaming setup comprises multiple devices in close proximity, keep the system in a lukewarm environment to avoid overuse of your equipment’s many internal cooling fans. These fans eat up a lot of electricity.
- Avoid heat like Robert DeNiro would: Don’t locate your console near heat sources like radiators and storage heaters or in small, enclosed spaces. Excess warmth can strain the system and increase energy use.
- Avoid drafts or extreme cold: While winter, and cooler internal spaces, can help to prevent overheating, extreme cold (near drafty or single-glazed windows, for instance) can impact the console’s performance and cause energy spikes, especially at start-up. Instead, choose a more typical ‘room temperature’ spot within the main area of your room, and away from drafts.
- Elevate and Ventilate: Keep your console elevated on a stand rather than on the floor, which is often cooler. This ensures airflow that maintains device efficiency, and keeps the console at an even temperature, reducing the need for fans to kick in at full power. This can help to reduce cooling costs.
The Difference Between Cool and Cold
The expert’s console-use tricks for the cold months don’t just help reduce energy costs, they can also improve the longevity of gaming equipment – and that’s cool.
“While you might move your gaming system close to sources of heat in winter to keep your fingers warm while you play, you could actually be making the console’s cooling mechanism work harder to keep the device within its operational heat boundaries. So while your fingers and nose may not turn blue because you’re snuggled up to a radiator as you game, the air might turn blue when you get your heating bill for the season, after your gaming console fans have been working overtime trying to keep your gaming system cool for months on end. Not cool!
“The fact is that minor changes to console locations in winter can make a difference to your energy bills. Experiment with what works best for you and your console, and for your energy bills. Happy gaming and happy holidays!” concludes Marin.
