Television and DVD Equipment

Every year, the 275 million televisions in the United States consume over 50 billion kilowatt-hours of energy and are responsible for as much as 10 percent of total household electricity usage. Televisions are a considerable source not only of energy consumption but also of toxic substances contributed to landfills. The 2009 switch to digital broadcasting in the United States led to many older analog televisions being thrown out—no longer usable without a converter or cable connection. Many of those old cathode-ray tube (CRT) television sets contained lead, among other toxins conventionally found in consumer electronics. However, for all their bulkiness, the truth is that CRT televisions were, on the whole, more energy efficient than the flat screens that have replaced them.

Flat screens come in three varieties: LCD, plasma, and rear-projection. Rear-projection is generally reserved for the largest sizes, 50 inches and up, and in that size range they are more efficient than the other two. At other ranges, LCDs are more efficient. Plasma televisions are inherently resource intensive—the sharper their resolution is, the more energy they use because each pixel is illuminated independently, whereas other televisions use a single light source to illuminate every pixel on the screen. For that reason, there is a greater difference in energy use between two plasma televisions of different sizes and a pair of LCD or rear-projection televisions. The average plasma television consumes more energy than a refrigerator—which, because of its resource demands and “always on” nature, is otherwise the most consumptive appliance in the average household.

DVD players were introduced in the late 1990s, and by the 21st century had almost completely replaced the VHS player. This technology switch resulted in a large number of VHS players being relegated to landfills or exported as e-waste to developing countries. Manufacturers are attempting to make DVD players more environmentally friendly, including reducing their energy use, eliminating the use of brominated flame retardants, using lead-free solder, eliminating halogenated substances in their manufacture, and using less packaging.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certifies products of various types that meet optional standards of energy efficiency. The Energy Star 4.0 standards for televisions and combination television/DVD players go into effect on May 1, 2010, to be followed by Energy Star 5.0 on May 1, 2012. The efficiency standards vary according to the size of the television, but in general they require the television set to be 30 percent more [Page 437]efficient than average sets of its type. As for the Energy Star 3.0 standards—which include requirements that will be carried forth in 4.0, 5.0, and subsequent standards—Energy Star–certified televisions are required to limit the power use in both on-mode and standby. The energy use of televisions and home entertainment equipment that are plugged in but not in active use is a common area of consumption that consumers remain unaware of—similar to many other appliances, televisions “leak” power. Energy Star televisions must also demonstrate their efficiency while in use. It should be noted that realistically speaking, no plasma television should be considered green compared with an LCD counterpart, and a big television, no matter how efficient, will not be a more environmentally conscious choice than a smaller one.

...