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Wattage for
various TV's and sizes
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LCD
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Plasma
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DLP
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32"
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125
(98-156)
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125
(only
one model, 125)
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n/a
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42"
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210
(91-236)
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270
(188-464)
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n/a
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50-56"
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260
(210-322)
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340
(191-474)
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170
(150-206)
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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. 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. Wide range of
sizes, from 5" to 65". 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. Only
available 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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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
CRT, 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.
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 most 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: April
2009
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