Nov 6, 2009 5:07 pm US/Eastern
Tech Minute: Going Green With HDTVs A Challenge
By BRIAN COOLEY, CNET Editor At Large
SAN FRANCISCO (CNET) ―
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Plasma screen televisions tend to use the most power, while LCD TVs tend to use less. (File)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Next time you're enjoying the big, bright picture from your HDTV, remember that it is indeed like a giant light -- and it consumes energy like one.
A large screen HDTV can easily draw 160 to 350 watts, accounting for several dollars a month in your electric bill for every TV you own.
Plasma screen televisions tend to use the most power, and while LCD TVs are generally quite a bit greener, that gap has narrowed. The latest sets, LED LCDs, promise the lowest power consumption of all.
When buying a TV, don't just research power use when it is on, but also it power consumption while in "Standby Mode." Such televisions can still use several watts the entire time they are "turned off." Look for a TV that uses 1 watt or less in Standby.
You can do several things long before you buy a new greener TV:
- Turn down the brightness. TV looks best in a dimmed room anyway, and your brightness can come down accordingly.
- Look for an energy saving setting in your TV's menu.
- Consider using a central power controller to turn off your TV, DVD player, AV receiver at the plug to kill standby consumption. Do not use central control for things like your DVR or cable box or you won't get your shows recorded or receive program updates.
When you do go to buy your next TV, be aware of some laws that will make your green choice easier:
The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening Energy Star rating standards on televisions. The 50-inch set that today can get EnergyStar rating using a big 318 watts will have to pare down to 153 watts by May 2010 and to just 108 watts by May 2012.
In California, where TVs account for 10 percent of all home energy use, a proposed new law would for the first time ban from sale TVs that are not "green" in terms of their power consumption
MORE: CNET's Step-by-step HDTV Finder
MORE: CNET Editors' Top HDTVs
MORE: CNET TV Buying Guide
MORE: CNET's HDTV World
MORE: Brian Cooley @ CNET.com
Brian Cooley joined CNET in 1995 to launch CNET Radio. Today as Editor at large, he offers commentary about technology on television and radio from the CNET p.o.v. as well as contributing videos to CNET Car Tech and CNET TV.
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