So, I have a longtime Mr. House character, and he's up to about 1060 saves (no big deal, my computer can handle 16 mb saves without crashing), but they are getting large enough that they can interfere with my gameplay. I figured that the save size is proportionate to the save number, so I created a new character, system-saved, then saved on my longtime character, setting the save file back to about #2. The save file size is the same. So my question is this:

-What is the leading factor in the size of a save file on PC? Is it the number of hours played, and if so, is there a console command to set a different amount of hours played?

It isn't an emergency, but I plan on keeping this character for a long time, so I'd rather not have to deal with major lag in the future. The effect is this: It takes longer to open the pip boy and menu, and the game freezes for an instant every time I quick-save. It's quick, but it's noticeable, and it's getting a bit worse every fifty saves-or-so. . I know this has to do with the save, because on characters with smaller files, they do not have these lag issues.

FYI, I'm not going to take "Save less often," as an answer. I just want to know if there's a way to shrink the file size.

Well maybe it's the mods or the commands

Regardless of mods/commands, the save files get bigger, I'm just wondering if there's a way to shrink them.