Homeowners in the United States seem to be largely unaware of the amount of electricity being wasted by what is a common energy vampire in many households: the game console. A study by Carnegie Mellon Univeristy analysts says that the wasting of electricity by game consoles is at record levels; 10.8 terawatts, which translates to over one billion dollars per year. When active, today’s modern consoles like the Microsoft Xbox 360 can draw as much as 100 watts of electricity when being used. But although that usage decreases dramatically when a game console is turned off, it’s how it’s turned off that’s causing the problem. Many console owners simply allow their devices to become idle or place them in standby mode, which can draw 75 watts, accounting for about 67.5% of the annual power drawn by gaming consoles. The study cites one possible solution to the power draw: enforcing automatic shutdown of the console if it’s been in idle or standby mode for one hour.