Microsoft is in the process of making its Xbox consoles more environmentally conscious. With particularly energy-saving functions that are intended to reduce the CO₂ footprint, you can do something good for the environment and your wallet.
Play greener with Xbox
An update is to bring the climate-friendly energy mode called “Shutdown (save energy)” to the new consoles. And how is this supposed to save carbon dioxide? Well, by optimizing updates and download times so that the console uses times when it uses as much renewable energy as possible from the local power grids. Since electricity from wind, water and solar power is usually the cheapest, you will certainly save a few dollars at the end of the year.
So far, these “carbon-conscious” features are only available to Xbox Insiders. “Soon” all other players should also benefit from the environmentally friendly energy saving mode. According to Microsoft, with the sustainable energy option turned on, the console consumes about 20 times less power than in the hibernation option.
It’s also important to know that this setting will not affect the console’s performance, gameplay, or downloads. In addition, the update will not only be available for the new consoles in the Xbox Series series, but also for older models such as the Xbox One.
On their news page writes Xboxthat two consoles switched to the Shut Down (Energy Saving) option save as much CO₂ as a tree that grows for ten years.
More settings to save CO₂
But that’s not all, the new Active Hours setting, found under Sleep, lets you set when you want the console to “stand by”. During this time, the Xbox boots up faster and can download and install updates. When the active time is up, the console shuts down completely as soon as you turn it off. It only consumes 0.5 watts instead of 10 to 15 watts.
In addition, you can set the power options so that your console switches off more quickly when it is inactive. Of course, these settings are voluntary and can be changed at any time. The Xbox Series consoles will automatically go into sleep mode after the update.
