Sidestep the TV, gadget energy suck
Consumer electronics are the fastest growing hog of electricity in U.S. homes. That’s according to Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, who said at a recent event that all those plasma TVs and Playstations now suck up as much as 15 percent of the household energy bill.
For example, Horowitz said, a 50 inch plasma TV uses 500 kilowatts of energy annually (if “on” an average of two to three hours daily), or about 4 percent of the household electricity bill. That’s the equivalent of adding another refrigerator to the house, he said.
Horowitz blamed the problem on designers of consumer electronics, who aren’t thinking about energy efficiency at the outset. Consider the DVR. Many of the digital recording devices don’t include an on/off switch.
“It’s on 24 hours at full power even if you’re not using it,” Horowitz said. “With the uptake of DVRs in homes, you could eliminate the need for new power plants if the box was designed better.”
One solution is to unplug all the household devices from the wall and reinsert them into an energy efficient power strip with an on/off switch. Turn the power strip off every time you leave the house and you can reduce energy consumption in the home by between 10 percent and 15 percent annually, according to Sandeep Goel, president of LightBearer Investments, an investment management firm that backs environmentally friendly companies. Goel spoke recently at San Francisco’s Green Festival.
”If we all did that on a national level, we would save enormously on energy usage,” Goel said.
Consumer electronics aren’t just an issue in the home. They can wreak havoc on the environment when tossed out. According to 2005 figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, about 88 percent of the 2.63 million tons of electronic waste generated in the United States ends up in landfills or incinerators, where toxins can leach into groundwater or get released into the air.
For that reason, a group called the Electronics TakeBack Coalition is trying to put pressure on TV manufacturers to take back and recycle TVs responsibly. In the last week, it started a new national program designed to let people recycle their old television set.
The coalition is calling on TV manufacturers to abide by several rules, including refraining from dumping toxic e-waste on developing countries or in landfills or incinerators.
Sony’s on board. The company said that U.S. customers can now bring back and recycle their TVs for free. This site lists recycling drop-off points for Sony TVs. The company said more spots will be added next year.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:16 am
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