Goodbye, 11-year-old, half-working 32″ TV.
Hello, 46″ Sony LCD HDTV.
This beauty arrived today thanks to the ridiculous generosity of my future in-laws. Our old TV had some issues — the volume would perodically fade out and could only be fixed if it was unplugged for a few minutes and then plugged back in. As of a few weeks ago, diagonal lines started appearing across the screen.
Hubby-to-be is in his glory right now, and he can’t believe the size of the screen. Frankly, neither can I! But this will be his baby; I’m more content reading a book than vegging out on the couch watching movies.
The new TV has an Energy Star logo on it, which got me to thinking about how much electricity it would suck. So I found this handy-dandy chart over at CNET, where 139 HDTVs were rated for electricity consumption. Our particular TV costs $83.36 annually to operate, assuming it’s on 8 hours a day.
Plasmas use more energy than LCDs, and a number of factors increase energy consumption. A few tips to keep electricity usage down:
1. Turn down the backlight. Brighter isn’t always better.
2. Keep it in the power-saving mode. If it’s got it, use it.
3. Let the TV start up normally — quick starts can use 25 to 50 times more electricity.
4. Shut it off when you’re not watching. A no-brainer, but sometimes it needs to be said!
