Economic Television Sets

Having an economical television set is one of the best ways to take advantage of sustainable energy. Finding televisions that are more energy efficient, however, is not as simple as just trading in your old CRT for a new flat screen. While it is true that LCD and Plasma televisions are more economical to operate than a CRT of the same size the fact remains that most people get a much larger size when they buy a television set these days.

Also noteworthy is the fact that plasma televisions can use twice as much electricity as similarly sized LCD televisions do. While the extra power may be a worthwhile trade to those who like the increase in resolution and brightness it is not helpful in terms of sustainable energy consumption.

Having a new television that is Energy Star compliant won’t guarantee low power consumption either due to the fact that the Energy Star 3.0 rating is not particularly strict when it comes to consumption. Fortunately the new Energy Star 4.0 rating takes effect in May of 2010 and requires new sets manufactured after that date to use 40% less electricity than prior models.

There are ways to save on any size or type of set and one way is to turn down the brightness, contrast, and backlighting. Another smaller savings can take place when you attach the television to a smart outlet strip that automatically shuts off power to the set when it is not in use.