[TMWWT]

There is an article in today's Observer saying that plasma TVs consume four times as much electricity as ordinary tellies.

With fuel costs at the rate they are, that's something to think about.

Anyone know how much it would cost to power a plasma TV for say three hours an evening? And how much difference turning it off rather than using standby would make?

[Jarrak]

A Plasma certainly does require more power than a CRT but if we are talking about a few hours a day for "average" use then you are not talking about a huge running cost in terms of kilowatt hours.
LCD's use less energy than a CRT does so if energy consumption is important then they are worth looking at

The wattage of a Plasma will be shown in it's manual or on the manufacturers website and then you can work out the Kwh and then the price you are charged per unit gives you the running costs.

[Inkblot]

I saw this article too. It makes worrying reading:

Originally Posted by The Observer

Dr Joseph Reger, chief technology officer at Fujitsu Siemens Computers in Munich, Germany, said: 'If all the [plasma] TVs were on at the same time, you would need something that produces 2.5 gigawatts. That can be done today with around two nuclear power stations.' But Reger added: 'It is safe to assume that there will be extras because people rarely just buy a TV. They desire a better picture and all of a sudden you have the urge for the latest and greatest DVD player. Then you need more file space on your personal video recorder. You want to download movies and it all adds up.'

Once all the elements of the 'digital home' are factored in, Reger calculates, the additional power requirement at peak hours may be six gigawatts.

I'll certainly check the relative power consumptions of plasma and LCD sets next time I'm buying a TV. The article also suggests consumers should be better informed about standby power requirements - sets should carry a sticker (presumably like those on fridges, washing machines etc).

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by TMWWT

There is an article in today's Observer saying that plasma TVs consume four times as much electricity as ordinary tellies.......

Not quite true. My Hitachi 42" plasma consumes 325W - but that's the peak consumption, because plasma power consumption varies with the brightness of the picture. So, if you take an average picure brightness of 60%, the figure comes down to about 2x the consumption of the average large CRT TV.

In standby it consumes 3W.

[TMWWT]

I have just found out about this ...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...38343&doy=14m8

.. which can be used to test appliances at home, and compare power use levels in various settings etc.

I'd love to see a comparison of power use on the most popular plasma screens. Anyone know where such a comparison could be found?