Nov 2, 2009 11:47 pm US/Pacific
New Rule Would Ban High-Energy TVs In California
(CBS 5 / CNET)
Does your big screen suck power? Chances are it does.
"TVs consume a lot of power," said tech expert Brian Cooley of CNET. "They're not like turning on something small. "They are big and they consume like a big appliance. Ever walk in front of your flat screen plasma or LCD, five or six inches away, when it's been on for a few minutes? There's heat coming off of that!"
Now California is putting the heat on TV manufacturers. The California Energy Commission is expected to require that big sets go on an energy diet. The plan would begin by the year 2011: flat screens sold in the Golden State would have to use a lot less electricity or they couldn't be sold at all.
Just how much do the big energy-guzzling sets cost you? CNET did a study of major makes and models, and the results were -- well -- simply electric. The biggest power-guzzling TV is a 65-inch Sharp LCD set. It draws an incredible 583 watts every time it's on and that will cost you $183 a year on your power bill. After the state law goes into effect, those numbers will be twice as much as what's allowed.
Second on the list is a Panasonic 65-inch plasma TV. It draws 575 watts. That's like having ten 60 watt light bulbs on at one time. That would cost over $123 a year. That too will be double the amount allowed under the new law.
Noah Horowitz with the Natural Resources Defense Council says it's all about saving the planet.
"We could cut the state's electric bill by close to a billion dollars a year," Horowitz said, or enough to "Avoid the need to build a large 500 watt power plant."
The giant Consumer Electronics Association is against the new rules. They worry it will suck the juice out of their business.
Even so, a Mitsubishi TV sales representative told CBS 5 he favors the miserly TVs.
"I am one of those people that would prefer to see energy conserved in any means possible."
But how exactly will TV makers meet the new standards? Using technology called LED TV. Peter Straube of Mill Valley's World of Sound and Video, says LED sets will explode onto the market next year.
"They are lighter, the picture is brighter, the color is more vivid, the contrast is better," Straube explained. "It's betting closer to what plasma is."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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