Originally published July 26 2005
Big energy needs come with big screen TVs
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A consumer interviewed by the Denver Post didn't mind the additional energy cost of having a big screen TV, but it may signify a trend of consumer media electronics eating up an increasing amount of power.
When told that such TV systems consume extra power, raising household energy bills $50 or more annually, he was unfazed.
Meanwhile, consumer-electronics manufacturers may voluntarily begin placing energy-efficiency labels on their products to inform consumers.
"Usage patterns are going up; the number of hours the typical TV (is on) has increased because there's a richness of media out there," said Andrew Fanara, team leader for product development for Energy Star.
Energy Star is a division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that sets voluntary standards of energy efficiency for consumer products.
Americans are watching more than five hours of TV daily and using their TVs to play video games, watch DVDs, and organize music and photos.
That figure is expected to climb to 18 percent by 2015, with electronics burning up the same amount of power annually as home lighting.
Televisions account for 10 percent of home energy use and 4 percent of national use - the same amount used annually by residential households in New York state.
"We looked at 25 TVs that were a cross-section of what you can find on the market, and they ranged from less than 50 (kilowatt-hours of use annually) to 450," said Peter Ostendorp, research analyst for Ecos Consulting in Durango, which did the study.
"Put one of those in every household in our country in the next five years and in China over the next 20 years, then we have a problem," said Howard Geller, director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project in Boulder.
"An increasing number of energy-intensive appliances individually is not much, but together the cost adds up," he said.
"And the implication for the environment is troubling."
Fanara said the first step is to create voluntary Energy Star guidelines for manufacturers.
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