Electricity use with TV on Standby

[ollyk]

Sorry but for people to say that a lot of their telly is on during standby it is just not true! When a telly goes into standby it is generally only the power supply and micro that are powered up the tube, LCD or in fact any other components are not kept warm as people seem to think - I have never heard of a case of this yet but I am sure there might have been examples perhaps in the valve tech. when merging with early remote control perhaps?!
There really is a lot of miss-information out their and a lot of standby figures have been based on older technology.. I would also not advocate the use of these plug in power meters to ascertain consumption especially at such negligible power levels. I think accuracy will vary wildly in a reactive load such as a telly.

Anyway, It is true things are not as efficient as they could be and things are changing. Batteries are being considered, this is now becoming possible with better battery technology and above all lower power consumption as a result of modern technology.
There were some entrepreneurs on the Dragons Den (last series) who invented a power strip that you could switch on and off with your remote control - a very good idea and I think they are well on their way to marketing this product. I was however dismayed once again to see them selling their product inaccurately, taking advantage of peoples lack of basic knowledge in such basic principles... Unfortunately there are too many companies (and government bodies?) caching in on this energy saving phenomenon and distorting figures to boost their sales, just look at some of those home wind generators to see what a farce it can be!

[DuncanE]

Originally Posted by thunder

But I've heard it argued that leaving a TV (and other equipment such as PCs) on all the time prolongs their life, as the greatest damage is caused by switching on and off.

I don't know who is right - but I have heard tales of ordinary incandescent light bulbs (yes, them !!) lasting extraordinarily long times when left on permanently.

henrya

the problem is the switching on and off regardless of whether its a hard on and off or just to standby shortens it's life. The thing to look at is the MTBF (mean time between falures) figures. TVs and such should be designed to be switched on and off. but its the inursh current that kills the components.

What i was trying to say is that the machine, because it is effectlvely on all the time it lives out its life 24 hours a day 7 days a week if left on standby. Therefore its working for its lifetime of x 1000's of hours in one go.... And of course theres the higher electricity bill and a potential fire risk.

I always turn things off if I can. The only thing thats left on stand-by is the satellite box as it takes to long to reconfigure.

[richardkm]

I could have more sympathy with the call to economise on electricity by not using standby and by using low energy bulbs, but - you look at any town from above and notice how much light is directed upwards from street lights. In my home town, I reckon there is LESS light directed onto the streets than goes into the sky. I have a street light on the opposite of the road from my house. If the cutains are not closed tight on our bedroom window, then the light comes in like a searchlight, and we're on the first floor, about level with the top of the light. A while ago, the light failed, and it was bliss with proper darkness at night.

When the powers that be endeavour to improve efficiency, then I will follow suit. I have already replaced the majority of my light bulbs with low energy bulbs, but mainly because they last longer!

[DuncanE]

Originally Posted by richardkm

I could have more sympathy with the call to economise on electricity by not using standby and by using low energy bulbs, but - you look at any town from above and notice how much light is directed upwards from street lights. In my home town, I reckon there is LESS light directed onto the streets than goes into the sky. I have a street light on the opposite of the road from my house. If the cutains are not closed tight on our bedroom window, then the light comes in like a searchlight, and we're on the first floor, about level with the top of the light. A while ago, the light failed, and it was bliss with proper darkness at night.

When the powers that be endeavour to improve efficiency, then I will follow suit. I have already replaced the majority of my light bulbs with low energy bulbs, but mainly because they last longer!

Thats about the only good thing about energy effiecient light bulbs. What a lot of people do not realize is that they have murcury and others such nasties in.