Playstation 3 Power Saving Guide

The Playstation 3 has plenty of cutting edge technology built deep inside with its Blu-Ray capabilities and Cell Processor. Unfortunately, this means it can also consume a lot of power. Here are a couple of power saving tips to keep your Playstation 3 from eating up your power bill.

Important Note: The recent firmware update for the Playstation 3 gives you several power saving options. So make sure your Playstation 3 is up to date or you won't be able to conserve energy.

System Auto-Off and Controller Auto-Off

The Power Saving option can be accessed from the Playstation 3's XMB (short for XrossMediaBar). If a game or movie boots up when you turn the Playstation 3 on, press the PS button to quit so you can access the XMB.

Scroll over to the left until you see the Settings section. From there, scroll down until you reach the Power Save Settings. Press the X button to enter.

You are given too options: Select System Auto-Off and Controller Auto-Off. Select System Auto-Off will automatically shut off the Playstation 3 after a set amount of inactivity time. You can choose to shut it off after 1, 2, 3 or 5 Hours. Controller Auto-Off will automatically shut down your controller after 10 minutes of inactivity. Use the X button and choose the appropriate power saving options for your Playstation 3.

Exchange for Newer Model

The newer Playstation 3 models are more power efficient than the older ones. If you have a 20 GB or 60 GB Playstation 3 and don't particularly care about playing Playstation 2 games on it, you may want to consider selling it and buy a new model. Those models are usually more sought after than the others; so the loss may be minimal if at all. The 40 GB and 80 GB Playstation 3 models reduce power consumption considerably.

Turn Off System Automatically After Background Download

It can take forever to download something from the Playstation Network Store. Instead of having to wait hours for it to finish, you can set the Playstation 3 to shut down after all background downloads are completed.

From the XMB, scroll all the way to the left to the Users section while you have background download activated. Choose the Turn Off System option and press the X button. Check the option to Turn Off System Automatically After Background Download and then Yes via the X button.

Now you can leave your Playstation 3 on without having to worry about wasting power since it will shutdown automatically after all the background downloading is completed.

Flip Power Switch to Off

The Playstation 3 is not completely off even when you shut it down. It is still consuming energy in its standby mode. You can tell that the Playstation 3 is in standby if the LED light is red.

To completely shut the Playstation 3 off, flip the switch in the back of it to off. Make sure the Playstation 3 is in standby mode when you do this or you may end up harming your Playstation 3.

By following the above tips, you should save plenty of power and money when using the Playstation 3.