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Is Your High-Def TV an Energy Hog?

California targets voracious big screens

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 6, 2009

In fact, the large LCD and plasma screens that fill so many of today's family rooms are energy hogs, using far more electricity than the old bulky models with an elongated picture tube. And it's gotten to the point that the California Energy Commission is about to impose new restrictions.

Beginning in 2011, new commission rules would, if adopted, require that retailers sell only the most energy-efficient models. Once in place, the rules would supposedly reduce the state's annual energy needs by an amount equivalent to the power consumer by more than 86,000 homes.

LCD screens are bad enough; they use an average of 43 percent more electricity than the old cathode ray tube models. But for real energy gluttony, the plasma screens take the undisputed first-place award, burning up three times as much electricity as a picture-tube model.

In California alone, more than 4 million flat-screen sets are being sold each year, so the problem is growing rapidly. And it's not just an environmental problem — it's an economic burden for struggling families. Commission officials say televisions already account for around 10 percent of the average Californian's monthly electricity bill.

It used to be that the water department worried about all those toilets flushing during the Super Bowl halftime but now it's the electric utilities that worry about all the big-screen TVs that are in use for the entire game. It's estimated that during peak times, all those big, bright screens burn the equivalent of 40 percent of the San Onofre nuclear power plant's capacity.

The electronics industry opposes the proposed California rules, saying they could boost the price of big-screen TVs and drive some models off the shelves.

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