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TV energy use
in watts (2008-09 models)
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|
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LCD w/
LED
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LCD
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Plasma
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DLP
|
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32"
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research-
ing
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125
(98-156)
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125
(125)
|
n/a
|
|
42"
|
127
(91-236)
|
176
(91-236)
|
270
(188-464)
|
n/a
|
|
50-56"
|
research-
ing
|
260
(210-322)
|
340
(191-474)
|
170
(150-206)
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Notes: (1) Some
manufacturers are calling their TV's
"LED", but they're really LCD TV's with
LED backlighting. (2) What's above are
averages. Use the
TV calculator to find your particular
model.
Google picks the
ads, not me. I don't endorse the
advertisers.
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How much electricity does my
television use?
Most TV's use about 80 to 400 watts,
depending on the size and technology. At the
U.S. average of 12¢ per kilowatt-hour and five
hours of viewing a day, that's $1.46 to $7.30/mo.
($18 to $88 per year) Below you'll find energy
usage information for different models.
Before you obsess over how much electricity
your TV is using, I want you to obsess over how
much your heating,
cooling,
and lighting
is using. TV energy use is a drop on the bucket
for most people. TV's account for only 5% of home
electrical use.1 You can save more money
by attacking the real energy hogs first.
The easiest way to save energy with your TV
is to turn it off. Does television really
enrich your life? Nobody ever lies on their
deathbed thinking, "I wish I'd watched more TV." I
consider myself fortunate to have had a near-death
experience, because it made me realize that I
didn't want to waste the limited time I have on
this planet on watching television. This isn't just
my idea -- the idea that a television is a
necessity is at an all-time low.
(Pew
Research,
2009)
You may have heard that the newer TV's are
energy hogs. That's true, but it's not because
of the new technology, it's because new TV's are
bigger than the old ones. LCD's are actually
more efficient than the old CRT's they're
replacing. But when you double or triple the screen
size, that's gonna take more power.
If you're getting a new TV, here's my basic
advice:
- Get an Energy Star model. The U.S.
government gives the Energy Star label to
energy-efficient appliances. Energy Star-labeled
TV's use about 30% less energy than other
models. Happily about 75% of current models are
already Energy Star-compliant. Get an Energy
Star TV and you can't go wrong. In fact,
California is considering banning all non-Energy
Star TV's. (MSNBC,
2009) See the list
of Energy Star TV's.
- For <50" get a LCD, for >50" get a
DLP. LCD is more efficient at small sizes,
DLP at larger sizes. And if getting a DLP, get a
model that uses an LED light source, which uses
even less energy than older DLP models, and
which will save you from having to replace the
bulb every 1-3 years.
- Think twice about plasma. Plasma sets
are the worst of all, in terms of energy use.
However, if you don't watch TV very much, then
the extra energy use of plasma won't be
significant.
Here's a rundown of the different kinds of
TV's.
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CRT. These are the big, bulky
TV's and computer monitors from
yesteryear. The tube is basically a big
light bulb. They're not very energy
efficient, but they use less energy than
newer models because they tend to be
smaller. A 19" TV uses about 80 watts, way
less than just about any modern TV.
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LCD (and
LCD/LED). This is the
same type of screen that goes in laptop
computers and modern computer monitors.
Much more efficient than CRT, they use
about 125, 210, and 280 watts for the 32",
42", and 52" sizes respectively. They come
in the widest range of sizes, from 5" to
65". Standard LCD's are lit with
fluorescent lighting and don't have the
best contrast (e.g., they don't show the
deepest blacks). Newer models that are
backlit with LED's and which have
the "local dimming" feature have good
contrast.
If you're getting
a new TV, LCD is a good choice for models
up to 50" in size. (For bigger than
that, go DLP.)
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DLP. Also called
"rear-projection", but there's no
"projector" that you can see -- it's a
regular enclosed TV like any other.
Available only in larger sizes (50"+), and
efficient at that size (~175 watts for a
56" model). If
you're getting a huge 50"+ TV, go for DLP,
and get one with an LED light
source (otherwise you'll have to
replace the bulb every 1-3 years).
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Plasma. Typical screen size
32"-60". Huge energy hogs. Plus, they
generate lots of heat, which you'll be
paying to remove with your AC. Not
recommended (unless you watch such a small
amount of TV that the extra energy usage
isn't significant).
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OLED. The most efficient of all,
but not available in sizes greater than
11" until 2010, and even then will
probably be pricey for a few years
compared to LCD and DLP. (Sony's 11-incher
costs $2500, but it uses up to 40" less
energy than a 20" LCD). OLED's are
also ridiculously, ridiculously thin.
(more at an
OLED
website)
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Confusing TV
terms explained
Contrast. This is a measurement
of picture quality, referring to the range
between light and dark colors. A higher
contrast ratio means a more vivid picture.
All TV's have a pretty good contrast ratio
except standard LCD's (not LCD/LED).
DLP. One of the five kinds of
TV's (along with CRT, LCD, Plasma, and
OLED). Often called "projection" TV's, but
the projector is internal so you can't see
it. Available only in larger sizes (50"+),
and energy-efficient at that size.
Provides a better picture than standard
LCD's while using less energy at the 50"+
sizes than plasma.
CRT. One of the five kinds of
TV's (along with LCD, Plasma, DLP, and
OLED). These are the old, big, bulky TV's
and computer monitors from yesteryear.
They're not energy efficient, but they use
less energy than newer models because
they're so much smaller.
Edge-Lit LED. An LCD+LED TV with
the backlighting on the sides of the
picture, rather than behind it. This
allows the TV's to be ridiculously thin
(like 1.2"). But Edge Lit models lack
Local Dimming, so the contrast isn't quite
as good as models with dimming.
Energy Star. The U.S. EPA awards
this label to products that are
energy-efficient. Energy Star TV's use
about 30% less energy than standard
models. The easiest way to ensure that
you're getting an energy-efficient TV is
to make sure it has the Energy Star
label.
HDTV. This just refers to modern
TV's which are wide rather than squarish.
All new TV's are HDTV, whether they're
LCD, DLP, or Plasma. You can't buy a
non-HDTV these days. (Not new,
anyway.)
Local Dimming. A feature of
some backlit LCD+LED models which
turns off the backlight in parts of the
screen when necessary, to produce deeper
blacks. (Compare to Edge-Lit LED.)
LCD. One of the five kinds of
TV's (along with CRT, Plasma, DLP, and
OLED). They're the most common, best
value, and use the least amount of energy.
LCD's use one of three types of lighting:
(1) fluorescent ("CCFL"), (2) Edge-Lit
LED, or (3) Backlit LED. Confusingly, some
manufacturers (like Samsung) are
deceptively calling #2 and #3 "LED TV's",
but they're really LCD's TV's with LED
backlighting. (True LED TV's like OLED
aren't yet available in larger sizes.) The
LCD/LED models have a better picture
(better contrast, wider viewing angle)
than the standard LCD models.
LED. True LED TV's aren't
really available yet in the consumer
market, as I write this in Jan. 2010. What
some manufacturers are dishonestly calling
"LED TV's" are really LCD TV's that employ
LED backlighting. True LED models, such as
the OLED technology, aren't readily
available. (e.g., Best Buy doesn't have
any.) LED TV's are touted as being the
wave of the future, but they're simply not
available yet -- though companies like
Samsung are trying to trick you into
thinking otherwise. (BTW, Samsung also
doesn't disclose how much energy their
TV's use on their website. Double shame on
them.)
Plasma. One of the five kinds of
TV's (along with CRT, LCD, DLP, and OLED).
Produces the best picture (highest
contrast, deepest blacks, wide viewing
angle), but uses the most energy.
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In terms of energy use, not all LCD's are equal,
and not all DLP's are equal, and not all plasma
TV's are equal, even at the same size. Even
within a particular technology and size, the energy
usage can vary greatly. So rather than going for a
certain kind of technology, the easiest thing is to
just look for the Energy Star label.
By now you're probably familiar with HDTV,
but if not, it refers to TV's that can display very
high quality pictures, and have a wide rectangular
display rather than an old squarish one. All
modern TV's are now HDTV, whether the insides are
LCD, DLP, or Plasma.
Standy
power isn't the problem it used to
be. Manufacturers have gotten wise and the
overwhelming majority of TV's made after 2006 draw
less than 1 watt of power when they're plugged in
and not running. That's less than 9¢/mo. at
current average electric rates.
Make sure your TV isn't running in "store
demo" mode, especially if you bought a floor
model. The store demo mode is super-bright in
order to do battle with the powerful ceiling
lighting in electronics stores. But once you get
home the extra brightness will likely just be
annoying -- and energy-wasting, to the tune of an
extra 5 to 27%.2
The setting you want is usually
labeled something like "Movie", "Pro", or "Normal",
and some plasma TV's even have an "Eco" setting
(because plasma TV's are such energy hogs to begin
with). The wasteful setting will say something like
"Dynamic" or "Vivid. So if your TV is in the
super-high brightness mode, you can save energy
with it at the touch of a button.
Picture quality by TV
type
|
|
Standard LCD
|
LCD+LED
(edge
LED)
|
LCD+LED
w/Local
Dimming
|
Plasma
|
|
Good contrast
(e.g., deep
blacks)
|
Fair
|
Good
|
Best
|
Best
|
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Wide viewing angle
|
Fair
|
Good
|
Good
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Best
|
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Typical thickness
|
83mm
(3.25")
|
35mm
(1.4")
|
83mm
(3.25")
|
89mm
(3.5")
|
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Toxic mercury
|
some
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
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Power consumption
|
Low
|
Very Low
|
Very Low
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High
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(From my survey of typical
models available at Best Buy in January
2010.)
TV's of note
- Sony Bravia WE5 (42" LCD). This 2009
model not only uses way less energy in normal
mode, it also senses when you leave the room and
turns the picture off. Stay gone for 30 minutes
and the whole thing powers down. Its standby
mode barely sips any juice at all (0.17 watts),
but if even that's too much for you can turn off
standby with a special separate switch. This
model was announced by Sony Europe, and I
haven't been able to find out whether it will be
available in the U.S. Unfortunately Americans
don't demand energy-saving products as much as
the Europeans do, which sometimes means that
those products aren't sold here.
(Sony
Europe)
Television energy
calculator
You wanted it, you got it. My TV
energy calculator will tell you exactly how much
energy your TV uses, and how much you're paying
for it. If your model isn't listed, just choose
"Don't know/generic" for the brand and you'll
get a pretty close estimate. I do have an
assistant working on adding hundreds of models
to the list, so your model might show up here
eventually.
How much energy do cable
boxes use?
According to the Natural Resources
Defense Council, an HD cable set-top box
uses about 45 watts of electricity.
(source,
PDF)
Footnotes & Sources:
(1) In 2004 TV's were 4% of home energy use,
which was expected to grow to 6% by 2009.
(NRDC,
PDF) But since 2004 TV's have gotten
more efficieint so I think 5% is a safer number.
TV's were 2.9% of home energy in 2001.
(Dept.
of Energy) In
2008 TV's accounted for 1% of total U.S.
electricity consumption.
(Efficient
Products)
(2) Store demo mode 5-27% higher than normal
mode (EfficientProducts.org)
Sources for TV wattage information.
CNET
has a good list of over 100 TV's and how much power
they draw. It's where I got much of the model data
for this page. (Others I got from manufacturers, or
by direct measurement.) More
Energy Savings also has a list, but the site is
very slow and usually crashes my browser.
TV market info. This 2006 EPA
report has lots of info such as the marketshare
of each type of TV (CRT, LCD, etc.) per year, the
energy-share of those TV's, how much energy can be
saved via Energy Star standards, etc.
Top manufacturcers. In 2008 the top
manufacturers of U.S.-sold TV's were Samsung
Electronics, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, and LG
Electronics. (China
View)
Last updated: January
2010
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