Cost per hour of gaming at 26.32p per kWh (UK average), the live standard variable rate since 1 October 2026.
The short answer
According to Nintendo, the original Switch uses about 12 watts when docked and playing on a TV, the 2019 revision about 7 watts and the Switch OLED about 6 watts. At today's UK rate of 26.32p per kWh, the OLED costs about 0.2p an hour to run.
Even 3 hours a day, every day, on a Switch OLED comes to roughly 14p a month. Your TV will almost certainly cost more to run than the console.
Every Switch model compared
| Model | Watts docked | Per hour | Per month (3 hrs/day) | Per year (3 hrs/day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch (original, 2017) | about 12 W | 0.3p | 29p | £3.46 |
| Switch (2019 revision) | about 7 W | 0.2p | 17p | £2.02 |
| Switch OLED | about 6 W | 0.2p | 14p | £1.73 |
| Switch 2 | about 18 W | 0.5p | 43p | £5.19 |
How to tell the original from the 2019 revision: the original's box is all white, while the 2019 model's box is mostly red. The 2019 model is also listed as HAC-001(-01) on the back of the console.
What about the TV?
A typical TV uses about 100 watts, which is 2.6p an hour. With the TV included, an evening on the Switch costs about 2.8p an hour, and over 90% of that is the TV. Playing in handheld mode skips the TV completely, so it's even cheaper.
Handheld mode and the Switch Lite
In handheld mode you're just recharging the battery, and the Switch's battery holds only a few watt-hours. A full charge costs well under 0.5p. The Switch Lite is handheld-only, so it costs about the same: pennies a week.
Switch vs PS5 and Xbox
A PS5 uses about 210 watts while gaming, which is about 35 times more than a Switch OLED. Over a year at 3 hours a day, a PS5 costs about £60.52 to run compared with £1.73 for the OLED. See the full PS5 running costs or the Switch 2 guide.
Sources: Nintendo figures via Pplware, ChargerLab, Octopus Energy tariff data.