Set up Auto Shut-Off for PlayStation 3

In today's society, it's not uncommon for households to have at least one video game console. I mean more than 40% of households have one, but the problem lies with the great amount of electricity and power that they can use. The NRDC and Ecos Consulting performed the most extensive study on energy usage for video games, and found that collectively, video game consoles use about 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which is almost equal to the annual electricity usage of San Diego.

The study estimates that Americans can save up to 11 billion kWh of electriciy each year if we only shut off our video game consoles when we aren't using them, which would cut the bill by about $1 billion a year.

We could also eliminate more than 7 million tons of CO2 emissions each year... All this sounds great doesn't it? Well, if you have a PlayStation 3, you have the video game console that uses the most power.

Breaking down how much you spend each year leaving your video game console on, you'll find that if you have the 2007 Playstation 3 you are spending $134 a year if you leave your console on all the time, whereas you will spend $12 if you turn off the console when you're not using it.

The Playstation 3 uses the most energy of all of the major consoles, so in order to save the most energy play your DVDs on a regular DVD player as they use 3 times less power than your Playstation when playing DVDs, and make sure to turn off your console when not in use.

Step 1. Turn on your Playstation 3, and when you are at the main menu screen, scroll to the left to the "System Settings" tab. Scroll to the "Power Save Settings," and press "select."

Step 2. When you are in the "Power Save Settings," you want to select the "Systems Auto-Off" option. A column will then appear on the right of the screen where you will be able to choose from five different time options. Choose whether you want your Playstation to automatically shut off after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, or 5 hours. When you have decided, scroll to the option and press select.

It's recommended that you choose 1 hour in order to get maximum energy saving.

Step 3. Once you have chosen your time, a new screen will pop up that will give you the option to turn off the console automatically "even under special conditions." You want to check the box and click "OK," as this will enable the special conditions funtions, allowing the auto-shut down feature to work even if you have a game or movie in the console and on the main menu page.

If you do not select "OK," your console will not turn off during a video or movie, even if the menu screen is idle, which means that the auto- shutoff feature is pretty useless.

Step 4. Once you have returned to the "Power Save Settings" screen, you can select the Auto-Off feature for your controller as well, which will further your energy saving potential.

Remember to save your game as often as you can while you are playing, because you will lose and unsaved game play if your console goes idle for your specified time.