“Great News”: Joburg Energy Expert Breaks Down Electricity Consumption of a PS4

• A Johannesburg energy expert shared a video breaking down how much power a PS4 console uses
• The video showed that a PS4 uses around 110 watts per hour, and then extra when adding the cost of the screen as well
• South Africans flooded the comments asking for similar breakdowns on the PS5, Xbox and gaming PCs

A Johannesburg energy expert shared a video on 3 November 2025 on his TikTok page, where he showed how he did the maths to calculate how much energy a PS4 uses. In the video, he broke down the power consumption of the console, and the results, as he stated, were quite good.

The expert measured it while his son was playing Fortnite, so it was a real-world test rather than just an estimate. The results showed that the console uses around 110 watts every hour, which converts to 0.11 kilowatt hours. He said that when you multiply that by the current electricity rate of around R4 per kilowatt hour, it works out to only 40 cents for every hour of play.

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But since you don't just use the console on its own, he went on to explain that a 42-inch TV uses around 100 watts, so when you combine the PS4 and the TV together, the total cost comes to just around R1 per hour. If someone games for an average of three hours a day, he says that's only R3 per day, which works out to less than R100 per month. The expert called it great news for PS4 users and promised to do similar breakdowns for the PS5 and Xbox soon.

Mzansi asks for more breakdowns

Content creator @wesreddy1, who shares a lot of content on energy-saving tips, gave PS4 gamers peace of mind with his breakdown, and South Africans rushed to the comments section asking for breakdowns on other devices and consoles:

@patrick asked:

"Hi, how much power does a pool pump use?"

@chana_banana questioned:

"Since you're on the whole gaming idea, what would the average gaming PC with 2 monitors use?"

@ashil_h_475 joked:

"PS5 will be interesting 😭 because it feels like it's a real electricity consumer."

@mzolo wondered:

"How much power does a PS5 use? 🤔"

@sketchingnomad appreciated:

"This is very informative, thank you 🌹"

@sonicnemesis asked:

"How much would a PS5 and a 55-inch 4K TV cost?"

A PlayStation's power consumption

According to the PlayStation website, different PlayStation models use different amounts of power depending on the game being played and the settings. The PS5 models use more power. This means that PS5 users can expect to pay more for their gaming sessions compared to PS4 users.

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Watch the TikTok clip below:

More about electricity costs in South Africa

• Briefly News recently reported on a Joburg man who broke down Eskom's latest ruling on solar power registration.
• A Johannesburg woman showed that her September electricity bill came to R6,000, leaving her questioning what could have caused it.
• NERSA lost a court battle over unlawful municipal electricity price hikes, and the ruling declared their approval process invalid.

Source: Briefly News