Electricity use with TV on Standby

rscott74 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 07:24 AM

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 · #2 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 02:43 PM

Quote:

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 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 04:11 PM

Blimey-that's interesting to know.

StuartDH · #4 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 04:52 PM

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 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 05:35 PM

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 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 05:54 PM

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 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

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 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 06:09 PM

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 · #9 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 07:40 PM

Quote:

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 · #10 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 08:02 PM

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

pressld2 · #11 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rscott74

Manufacturers should either abandon standby function or make clear the energy use involved

I'd go for abandoning the standby function but some of them seem to be heading in the opposite direction. I pulled up my father-in-law for leaving his new (under 2 years) Hitachi telly on standby and his response was "If you can find an off switch be my guest".

Plus a lot of people still don't seem to have got the message - at least 90% of the people in my office leave their PC screens on standby overnight. I'm a little bit worried that if they can't put it on standby they'll just use the mute button instead!

Dave P.

agrumpycow · #12 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rscott74

Manufacturers should either abandon standby function or make clear the energy use involved

Just abandon it. Unfortunately there are too many people out there (and I'm married to one

) who won't read or take notice on how much energy it uses and would rather conserve energy by pressing standby from the sofa than walking across the room to turn off!

G0NYM · #13 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 08:36 PM

I have just had a idea maybe a little off the mark but here gos.Would it not be possible to have the standby circuitry powered by a battery
recharged when the TV/VCR was in use and a winking LED display that would tend to annoy and make us turn off the power dos that all make sense.

svenrufus · #14 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 08:55 PM

Clocks. Another bugbear of mine that goes in the same category as the standby function. Just how many clocks does a household need - or even, depending on the range of appliances, how many clocks does one room need?

Apart from which, if you are anything like me, all my clocks tell me a different time (and at this time of year, a few of the laggards are still a whole hour out of sync!) so I end up not having a clue what time it actually is despite a surfeit of timepieces.

The reason I mention this is that clocks also take up a reasonable amount of power for no appreciable benefit.

Stu - where did you get your plug in meter from, that sounds like a great toy. Can it be used (or can something else be used instead) to figure out mains wired circuits like lights rather than just plug based appliances?

StuartDH · #15 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 09:20 PM

Quite a few places do them, including some of the shops in the ads at the top of the page. I'll asked at work where we got ours from. You can them for plug-in and circuits/machinery and soon the govt is to start trialing meters for every home in the UK

thunder · #16 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuncanE

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).

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

rscott74 · #17 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 08:02 AM

Good point about clocks. They are not usually necessary and where a timing function is required they should should only display when activated.
In our kitchen the oven clocks always give different times and they all need resetting if there a power break, not to mention messing about when clocks go back/forward.
I wonder how much energy gets wasted on things that are completely unnecessary. For exampe, do we really need the intensity of lighting on urban motorways?

Thizle · #18 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 08:32 AM

Being a pensioner any saving has to be considered, but i'm also an ex fireman and we were taught any live appliance is a potential fire hazard, I have attended many fires caused through aged appliances being left alive, I dont think the danger is so great with modern circiutry, but with the appliance switched off the danger is negligable. When I look around at all the electrical appliances we have, switching them off must save me the cost of a couple bottles of single malt

now thats serious. regards Jon

Linda frost · #19 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 08:42 AM

I do understand what you are saying but! when i was nursing i used to look after an elderly gent who was disabled who simply could not get out of bed to turn the tv on or off as easily as the likes of myself, so standby was easy via the remote it meant if he woke during the night he could easily watch the tv.Saying that our culture has become lazy with more buttons, gadgets and gizmos, i can only see future generations getting worse.

agrumpycow · #20 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda frost

I do understand what you are saying but! when i was nursing i used to look after an elderly gent who was disabled who simply could not get out of bed to turn the tv on or off as easily as the likes of myself, so standby was easy via the remote it meant if he woke during the night he could easily watch the tv.

I think that's slightly different, I work with disabled people myself so I know what you're saying. It's those people who simply can't be bothered to get off their backsides to turn off, often when they have to walk past the telly to leave the room! (If my husband sees this he'll know who I'm talking about

)

StuartDH · #21 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

I think that's slightly different, I work with disabled people myself so I know what you're saying. It's those people who simply can't be bothered to get off their backsides to turn off, often when they have to walk past the telly to leave the room! (If my husband sees this he'll know who I'm talking about

)

Thank god you clarified the situation with the comment about your husband...for a moment then I thought you could see into my sitting room

rscott74 · #22 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 02:43 PM

Agrumpycow. I think it's time you put your hoof down regarding your husband's bad habits.

agrumpycow · #23 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rscott74

Agrumpycow. I think it's time you put your hoof down regarding your husband's bad habits.

I will!!! If he doesn't change by friday all his channels: Dave TV, men and motors, nuts tv will all be removed and he doesn't know how to retune the digibox!

thes3raph1m · #24 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

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?

its now illegal in the EU to manufacture products with a "standby" feature.... the reason is that its not just a little light... its the entire control circuit of the appliance that draws power.

see... legislature can sometimes