TV Power Consumption

[admin_exported]

I was surprised recently when looking to purchase a new Panasonic 42 inch plasma TV on how much power they use. One TV used 380W an hour the average seemed to be around 300/310 W an hour. With some TVs being on 10/12 hours a day that is a lot of power being used.

As a subscriber to What HiFi I believe that when a test or report is done on a TV the power consumption should also be stated possible giving a yearly running cost. There should also be a efficiency rating given like other electrical equipment A, B, C etc.

 

[Anonymous]

It's a good point - also worth looking at how much power they eat in standby mode.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Some tv's like my Pany PZ85 have an "eco" feature. There's a light sensor on the tv, so the tv will only use whats required for the light level in the room. Basically use's less electric when it's dark as the brightness is turned down. Also the standby power useage is really low on my model.

The power consumption of lcd and plasma on average work out about the same. Plasma's use more power than lcd's when the picture is bright, but when it's dark the plasma's use alot less power due to the backlight on lcd models.

You can also get those "eco plugs" that turn off the power to the tv when it's on standby. When you press your remote to power on the tv the plug detects this and turns the power back on again.

Out of interest does anyone know how current plasma/lcd compares with crt tv's for power consumption ?

 

[Clare Newsome]

We're looking into providing power consumption information.

Incidentally, several manufacturers (notably Panasonic) pledged that their 2009 sets will use less power - 100W was mentioned for a 42in plasma. And eco modes do take down current usage - a 42in plasma with an eco mode can use less juice than a 40in LCD with an unadjusted backlight....

As for comparison re CRTs - yes, plasmas/LCDs use more, but largely through dint of having a much bigger screen. A 42in CRT would be pretty mains-hungry, too! (Not to mention somewhat huge).

 

[aliEnRIK]

I found the 'eco' mode to effect the picture quality on my Pioneer. It simply doesnt look as good even when calibrated!

Trade off for being greener I suppose.............

 

[Clare Newsome]

Just be greener in other areas to compensate - that's my philosophy!

 

[aliEnRIK]

Clare Newsome:Just be greener in other areas to compensate - that's my philosophy!

Mine too

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
We're looking into providing power consumption information.

Incidentally, several manufacturers (notably Panasonic) pledged that their 2009 sets will use less power - 100W was mentioned for a 42in plasma. And eco modes do take down current usage - a 42in plasma with an eco mode can use less juice than a 40in LCD with an unadjusted backlight....

Hi Claire,

I'm in the market for a new television at the moment and the power consumption issue is of concern to me too, particularly from the environmental viewpoint. I did a search through the forums and I found this interesting thread. Do you know if there has been any news on this pledge from Panasonic. Is there a product in the pipeline?

thanks a lot in advance!

David

 

[aliEnRIK]

I looked into this a little a while back. The quoted figures are usually with the default settings the tv comes with (High contrast etc)

But when properly calibrated, the wattage usage lowers!

This actually put quite a few plasmas as being more eco friendly than some LCDs

 

[laserman16]

My 40 inch Sony is pulling about 120 Watts which I think I can live with.