AfterDawn: News

California wants to halve TV energy usage

According to research, about 10% of all electric power used within the average home is used by televisions and their accessories. California is looking at this as a possible target for efforts to reduce energy usage in the state, and is proposing stricter efficiency standards for television sets. Ideally, the standards would aim to cut the average power consumption of a television by 50 percent.

The target date for the plan to kick in is 2013, but if the standards could be drawn up as early as this summer, then it could apply to televisions produced in 2011. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is resisting such restrictions, and points out that energy can already be saved without making new rules. It points out that simple acts such as lowering the brightness and contrast levels can cut energy usage by up to 25% alone.



Of course, there is a long way to go before something like this plan could be drawn up. It would have to take into account the differences in technology used in the televisions of today; there is a large difference in energy consumption of Plasma and LCD, for example.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 18 Apr 2009 20:07

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• 7 comments

• Amak

  If the more efficient TVs weren't so expensive, this wouldn't be an issue...and raising the sales tax didn't help that, either.

  18.4.2009 20:30 #1

• DXR88

  hehe, California is a state of Arnold The Governator, he drives like 8 hummers, has a stash of fully automatic firearms,has more lead based products lying around than anyone and there worried about TV power consumption.
  

  
  

  19.4.2009 01:10 #2

• kikzm33z

  Minimize the picture please...
  I need to scroll to read the whole article.

  19.4.2009 07:29 #3

• KillerBug

  I am guessing this will just raise the cost of LDCTV, so people are less willing to get rid of their CRT TVs.

  19.4.2009 23:20 #4

• windsong

  Maybe some of the tree-hugging liberals need to stop wasteful govt spending instead of telling people what to do with their own property in their own homes.

  20.4.2009 01:34 #5

• ThePastor

  More likely what it will do is cause TV's to not be bright enough. So we'll all have to sit in a darkened room to see our TV's. There will be a black market for "real" TV's that will actually be viewable.
  Just like the volume control on an MP3 player. They decided that kids were blowing their eardrums out so now you can't get a player that puts out decent volume. I usually hook my player up to another source, through line in and rarely is it loud enough to play where a room can hear it.

  20.4.2009 01:42 #6

• GMC1

  On some TVs the eco-modes may be worth watching, but I doubt that that could be the case with most TVs. My Full HD TV I got around last Christmas (2009 / 10), and I know now to only use the power saving modes when I'm not so interested in the picture. It's a good thing that I can do that, and I think every TV ought to have that option. But I won't be choosing it often, as it's not what watching films and video etc. is all about. A lot of effort goes into producing wonderful looking programs and films, and they ought to be enjoyed.
  
  I know some TVs' power saving modes make great watching, but I estimate it's only a few. And I'm not going to downgrade to what is a much worse TV to save some carbon output - it beats the point. I'd rather get a tiny desktop fridge and go to the shop more often to buy fresh food.

  18.7.2010 00:55 #7