Games consoles could be costing households in the UK around £16 from the start of July, our calculations suggest. This week Ofgem announced a 13% increase of the energy price cap for the period covering Monday, July 1 to September 30, 2026. The price cap refers to the default tariff applied when a customer has not signed for a fixed-rate tariff, the regulator explains on its website. It sets a maximum rate per unit and standing charge that can be billed to customers for their energy use.
From July 1, people in England, Wales, and Scotland on a standard variable tariff, and who pay for their electricity via Direct Debit, will pay 26.11p per kilowatt hour (kWh) on average. It’s a marked increase on the current price cap of 24.67p per kWh, with Ofgem saying the rise is a “result of higher wholesale gas prices, caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”. However, it noted that prices “remain well below the height of the energy crisis in 2022 when the government stepped in to cap bills at £2,500”.
It means your electricity bills will soon be more expensive, with your appliances racking up surprisingly large sums over the year.
Since game consoles hit the mass market in the 1970s, video gaming has become a multi-billion-pound industry. Tens of millions of households have a console, and gaming has become a popular form of entertainment across demographics.
They don’t come cheap, with most models ranging from around £240 for the original Nintendo Switch console up to £790 for the highest spec PlayStation 5 Pro.
Other costs include the price of physical or digital copies of games, but it’s also worth factoring in how they can affect your energy bill.
Consumer research for Q4 2024 published early last year by digital intelligence platform MIDiA, found that console gamers spend 10 hours gaming per week on average. That’s the equivalent of 1 hour and 26 minutes per day.
The figure is based on respondents from various countries, including the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, South Korea, and Brazil.
And while habits will differ between nations, it gives us a rough idea of how much people are playing, and how much consoles add to electricity bills over the course of a year.
Citizens Advice‘s cost calculator reveals that, based on that level of usage, your games console might be adding £15.48 to your energy bill over 12 months under the existing cap (24.67p/kWh).
That means it’s currently setting you back around 4p per day, 30p per week, and £1.29 per month (which would work out to £15.48 over 12 months).
From July 1, the cost of that amount of playtime will rise to around 4p per day, 31p per week, or £1.37 per month, the calculator suggests. That’s the equivalent of around £16.44 over the course of 12 months.
That’s assuming that the console is in active use, but it will cost more if they’re on standby and charging your controller.
The estimate is for England, Scotland, and Wales, and Citizens Advice notes that it’s calculated using “the rate you pay for electricity or the national average rate and the amount of electricity each appliance uses”.
Actual usage will depend on how much you use your console and vary between devices. Additionally, while the estimates give you an illustrative sense of the costs the cap represents over a longer period, the maximum limit on unit rates and standard charges is reviewed by the regulator every 3 months and doesn’t remain in place for a full year.
You will also have to take into account the daily standing charge for using electricity, which will drop slightly to 57.19 pence per day from July 1, though this covers all the electrity you’re using.
One way to protect yourself from price cap hikes is to get on a fixed rate that can shield you from global shocks over a set period.
Ofgem says currently, 40% (22 million) of accounts are fixed tariffs and are therefore unaffected by the July 1 price rise.