Electronics' Energy Suck: Blame Consumers

Recent news quickly brought to light the dark side of electronics – how they can act as energy vampires, sucking up energy day and night just by being plugged in. Many blame the manufacturers for bleeding consumers' dry with higher energy costs. But beneath the story of "evil" electronics lies the naked truth – consumers are using multiple devices more often and not unplugging them.

The United Kingdom's Energy Savings Trust said that by 2010, the consumer electronics will be the biggest single component of domestic electricity use, overtaking other sectors, such as kitchen appliances and lighting. By 2020, music and video entertainment, computers and other gadgets will account for 45 percent of electricity used in homes.

How could this be when those in the electronics and energy industries say that electronics are generally becoming more energy efficient than ever?

Well, we're using the devices designated as culprits at record rates, buying more gadgets and keeping them on standby mode (off but not unplugged) at alarming rates. The wasted energy that electronics use when not in use sends about 85 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. So just think of how much pollution we cause when we're actually using our electronics, as energy efficient as they may be.

"By and large, products are more eco-friendly than ever," said Kristina Taylor of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which has worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program since 1992 to encourage electronics manufacturers to introduce more energy efficient products to the market.

As computers become smaller and lighter they also become more energy efficient, Taylor said. Old bulky computers usually suck up a lot more juice than smaller, more compact ones. In less than 10 years, the average energy use for computers in standby mode went from 25 watts to an average of 4. Now they consume less than one watt.

TVs Attuned to Power

And with the exception of plasma TVs, which are now declining in popularity, the television industry has picked up the slack as well. Plasma TVs use four times the energy of a cathode ray tube TV, and the bigger the screen, the more energy consumed. But people want the big screens, Taylor said. She said it used to be that if you wanted a big screen television, the only option was plasma. It was the norm because until recently, LED (light emitting diodes) technology was not adequate for large screens.

Now LED televisions are edging plasmas out of the market because they have superior picture quality. Plus, LED and LCD televisions generally use less energy than cathode ray tube TVs of roughly the same size. Prices for these televisions are dropping as well, making it easier for consumers to buy more energy efficient products with better quality at lower prices. Still, the greenest televisions use organic LEDs, an ultra energy-efficient technology that is likely to be the next trend, said Taylor.

"But it could all be a wash because the screen sizes are still larger and people are wanting bigger and bigger screens," said Taylor."No matter what type of TV you're using, the screen size is key (in energy consumption). "I think people that care about energy consumption probably aren't buying a 52-inch anything," Taylor said.

With plasmas on their way out, perhaps televisions aren't as bad as their reputation. In 2006, the European Union asked electronics manufacturers to remove six hazardous chemicals from all electronic equipment. But the manufacturers on average eliminated 39, and they take out more with every product generation.

"I wouldn't eat (a TV) with a fork but it's getting there, especially with the organic LEDs," Taylor said.

Because word of the energy vampires has spread, and televisions must save energy when turned off in order to earn the Energy Star rating, manufacturers keep trying to lessen the energy consumption of their products in standby mode. But that's just not enough anymore.

"People are using their stuff. That is when their products use energy – not when they're off," Taylor said. "That's a good story and there is improvement to be made there, but really people are using their gadgets more than ever."

"For a long time people had one computer or one TV, products were off more than they were on, and satellite and cable weren't as available, which keep them running 24/7. The ways in which consumers use these products have all changed," said Katharine Kaplan, manager of development for Energy Star requirements for the EPA.

For example, listening to a radio station via a digital TV is competing with traditional radios in the home, using 10 to 20 times more power than a traditional radio. Also, instead of watching TV, or playing a video game or going online, consumers now frequently multitask, with each device sucking power from the outlet.

DVRs on Duty 24/7

Set-top boxes, such as cable boxes and personal video recorders like TiVo, stay on around the clock, which is one of the reasons that they lost their Energy Star ratings first established in 2001. The EPA concluded in 2005 that it should suspend its labeling for set-top boxes because they use too much energy. The potential for significant energy savings among the devices simply did not exist without incorporating a sleep mode – which contradicts the purpose of the device.

How could a TiVo record your favorite shows if it's in sleep mode? Technology currently has not been incorporated into these products to accommodate sleep mode and awaken them on demand to record scheduled programs. Unless manufacturers can move beyond this problem, TiVos won't be guilt-free.

"Now, more than ever, these products are becoming a serious slice of the home energy budget," Kaplan said.

Taking Necessary Measures

Energy efficiency agencies are also expanding tools for measuring and decreasing energy consumption while products are running.

The Geneva-based International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) intends to create an international standard to test the energy use of various models of televisions while turned on by creating the world's most boring TV show. The 10-minute show is a mixture of various genres designed to test the energy use of each genre in the broadcasting world. The IEC hopes to encourage television companies to reduce energy use per model by 25 percent by 2009, which it said could save more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year in the United States alone.

Manufacturers make and distribute the same products around the globe, so when one country or organization requires stricter efficiencies, the changes ripple throughout the world. Unlike some countries like Australia, which wants to establish a ratings system that would ban most plasma TVs and many LCDs down under, the United States focuses mostly on voluntary standards, which the CEA and Energy Star believe work best. Yet, manufacturers may not feel these programs are so voluntary because when purchasing electronics equipment, the U.S. government is required by law to purchase Energy Star products.

"Policy often has a hard time keeping up with technology," said Taylor. "So our perspective is you shouldn't try. We can do the most good and set realistic standards that work with the technology and can be ever-evolving."

Energy Star Raising the Bar

Energy Star regularly tests products on the market to find out what's best in class, and then tries to get everyone else to meet that level by raising the bar. Energy Star made its requirements for computers more stringent last July, but it's already working on new computer standards that will be released in 2009. In April, it raised the bar for imaging equipment, such as scanners and copiers, and the final revised set of regulations for televisions is about to be released.

Although Energy Star is a U.S. agency, it influences the world. It works with the European Union, China, Taiwan and Canada to develop minimum standards for the energy efficiency of electronics. If manufacturers want their products to bear the Energy Star label, they bend under pressure.

"We want to recognize leaders when it comes to what's on the market now," said Energy Star's Kaplan. "Consumer electronics and IT manufacturers are real innovators – there's fierce competition. We find that this is an industry that is fairly quick to make changes."

Energy Star boasts that about 60 percent of consumers now recognize its label. For a while, many associated the label with refrigerators and washers and dryers – not electronics – because mandatory regulatory programs forced these "white goods" to meet the Energy Star standard. But the agency has been working hard for almost a decade to set standards for personal electronics. Although about half of the two billion Energy Star products sold since 1992 are electronics, people are just now beginning to look for the label when shopping for things like DVRs and televisions.

"We feel that we help sell products and that the value of the Energy Star is increasing as consumers become more and more concerned with their energy bill," Kaplan said.

But it's still not so easy for consumers to recognize and compare the environmental-friendliness of electronics. The CEA wants to see Energy Star do more to make it common knowledge that electronics are actually a very big part of the program.

"The guideline on the Energy Star Web site is an Excel spreadsheet," said Taylor. "It's not fun and it's not how people shop for electronics."

The CEA is promoting its My Green Electronics Web site, which offers consumers an energy use calculator and tips for saving energy with electronics. If we insist on adhering to our addiction of continually using multiple gadgets, we may as well choose the greenest ones currently on the market.