Electricity use with TV on Standby

[rscott74]

Just a question. How is the 8% 'standy light' electricity usage arrived at? I find it hard to accept that nearly a tenth of domestic usage is tiny lights.
I think the figure is overstated and may lead the people thinking that by switching off they are making a significant reduction in energy use.

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by rscott74

Just a question. How is the 8% 'standy light' electricity usage arrived at? I find it hard to accept that nearly a tenth of domestic usage is tiny lights.
I think the figure is overstated and may lead the people thinking that by switching off they are making a significant reduction in energy use.

A simple plug-in meter can be used to show how much energy an appliance is using when it's on standby. The light is just the indicator that the appliance is still using electricity to keep components warm, so they don't need to warm up when you switch it on.

I've just done a quick test on a couple of TVs in the house and on a fairly new 32in TV it goes from using 122W when its on to about 5W on standby, but the older 14" TV goes from 48W in use to 14W on standby.

[Wild-Woman]

Blimey-that's interesting to know.

[StuartDH]

Depending on how much you pay for electricity, it means that if both TVs are left on standby then it would cost about £15-20 a year

[rscott74]

I accept that energy is being wasted but £15 - £20 hardly represents 8% of an average electricity bill. It's therefore worth switching off but really standby should be removed from most appliances or have we become too lazy to physically switch things on or even forgotten what an on/off switch is for?

[agrumpycow]

I may be missing something obvious to others but just what is the point of standby and why are manufacturers making products with it? Surely turning something off takes no effort at all so what purpose does it serve to.

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by rscott74

I accept that energy is being wasted but £15 - £20 hardly represents 8% of an average electricity bill. It's therefore worth switching off but really standby should be removed from most appliances or have we become too lazy to physically switch things on or even forgotten what an on/off switch is for?

Just done the sums again and using Scottish Poweer's price for 10,000kWh a year at £700pa, the best price on uSwitch, it's £23.75 a year. That's 3.4% of the total annual spend, but that's only two TVs, many families have 3 or 4, plus the standby on videos, DVD players, computers etc.

There's a big move toward fitting all big electonics with a 1 watt standby, but even that'll take a decade plus before most people have upgraded their trusty old 14" in the kitchen.

[DuncanE]

The problem is that although all you see is the light on the rest of the circutry inside is ready and waiting.

For example, your TV is on standby, the light is on telling you so. You reach for the remote and push the button. In order for the TV to switch from standby to fully on that circuit has to be on as well. this is joined to other circuits which while you think that they are off will have power going to it. therefore most of your TV is on even when you think it isn't. This goes for CRT, LCD & Plasma models including computer monitors.

needless to say when you use standby it also shortens the life of the TV as the circuits are always "on" so in the long term you have to by a replacment product sooner (or in theory anyway).

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

I may be missing something obvious to others but just what is the point of standby and why are manufacturers making products with it? Surely turning something off takes no effort at all so what purpose does it serve to.

Agreed. It's just bone-idle laziness really. Us humans seem to love it.

Can you imagine if we had to go back to basics like they did during WW2. We'd never manage it now.

[rscott74]

2 points.
1) WW2? surely there's only one Wild Woman!
2) Manufacturers should either abandon standby function or make clear the energy use involved