If you’re running out of room but have a ton of consoles, one of the most intuitive solutions is to start stacking. But can you stack your consoles or will this hurt them in the long run?

Can You Stack Gaming Consoles?

You should not stack your gaming consoles because doing so will prevent the consoles from receiving proper ventilation. Even if you stack your consoles without covering the vents, having something on top of the console will keep hot air around the console which could lead to overheating and damage.

Generally speaking, you could probably get away with stacking your consoles safely. At least, you could stack two of them. However, it’s not a great idea and could definitely lead to overheating.

Most consoles have their air vents right on the side, so if you stack your consoles on top of eachother, you’ll be covering those important air vents.

You could put some soda caps on the corners of the consoles to create little buffers for air to get through, but again this isn’t guaranteed to work and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Without a buffer, air will have nowhere to go, and hot air will get “trapped” right around your console. When you play that console it will almost certainly overheat when the hot air has nowhere to go.

Your console will be engulfed in a red hot inferno (maybe an exaggeration), overheat, and probably shut off.

Beyond overheating, you also have to worry a little bit about the weight on the consoles you’re stacking.

If you stack two or three other consoles on top of your XBox, Playstation, etc then the added weight will add up.

It’s a bad idea to put weight on top of moving, mechanical parts like that because you never know when something is going to break.

This is especially true if you’re playing a disc game instead of a digital version.

Can You Put Things On Top Of Your Gaming Console?

You can put things on top of your gaming console as long as you’re not putting something too heavy or too hot (like another console) on top of it. Gaming consoles need to have clear ventilation to prevent overheating. Putting a small figurine or something else lightweight on top of your console is fine.

As long as you’re not stacking up another console on top of your console, you should be fine. This is especially true if that stacked console is also running.

The last thing you want on top of your console is another heavy and hot piece of hardware. Stacking something large and hot on top of your console would put it on a fast track to the overheat zone.

You can stack small things like figures, toys, etc. on top of your console without much issue. Just make sure that you’re not covering any vents and that whatever you’re putting on there isn’t too heavy.

No matter how convenient it seems, I’d avoid using my console as a makeshift dumbbell holder but there’s no problem with displaying a couple of tiny figures on top of your Xbox, PlayStation, etc.

Can You Put Your Gaming Console On The Floor?

You should avoid placing your gaming console on the floor; however, if you have wood or tile flooring you can place your console on the floor as long as the area around the console is free of things like dust, hair, and other debris. When placing it on the floor, stand your console vertically if possible.

You can put your gaming console on the floor, but the floor isn’t the best place for your console, especially if you have carpet.

In fact, I would recommend against placing your console on the floor if you have carpet. This is because even if you carpet appears clean, there can still be dust and debris hidden within the carpet.

Not to mention carpet itself can fall apart over time and those materials can get into your console. Last of all carpet just will not provide great ventilation for your console.

All these things combined can cause your console to become unnecessarily dirty and run slower or not run at all.

If you do put your console on the floor, you should place it vertically, so that its air vents are not facing the floor and sucking up dust, hair, bugs, etc.

Many people do end up placing their consoles on the floor out of necessity, but if you can avoid it you should. Even putting a book between the console and the floor would be better.

Vertical is best, but not required when on the floor. If you have small kids running around then placing it vertically may not be the best idea.

Can You Put Two Consoles Side By Side?

You can put two consoles side by side. Just make sure that each console has plenty of room to breathe. If you plan to put your consoles side by side, you should make sure that there is a few inches of space between the consoles. This extra space will make sure that both consoles can breathe and not overheat.

For the most part you’re not going to have any issues putting your consoles side by side next to each other.

With that being said, your consoles shouldn’t be so close that they are literally touching or they may get too hot.

Even if only one console is on at a time, the console that’s running needs room to breathe, which means there should be space above, and around it.

Without that extra space, the console could overheat, which could cause an emergency shutdown.

Best Way To Store Multiple Consoles

The best way to store multiple consoles is with some kind of cube organizer or shelf that gives each console its own space. It’s important that the consoles are off of the floor (especially carpet) and that every console has a few inches above and around it so that it gets enough circulation and stays cool.

There’s no real “best” way to store a bunch of consoles. There are a lot of wrong ways though.

Don’t stack your consoles on top of eachother, don’t cram them all in a tiny space, and make sure that every console has room to breathe.

Cube organizers are fantastic for consoles because the organizers will keep consoles separate and organized while giving every console enough room to circulate air and prevent overheating.

If you have multiple consoles, then something like this 4 cube organizer on Amazon works great because it has multiple spaces to place your consoles and an open back for extra cooling and cables.

I hope this article was able to help you understand the ways you should, and should not store your gaming consoles.