TVs Meeting New Energy Star Standards Hitting Stores for Holidays
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 10.31.08
Photo via Elsie esq
The EPA will be helping holiday shoppers out with new Energy Star labels on TVs. Earlier this month we talked about Energy Star requirements toughening up on TVs, and new requirements going in place by November 1.
Well, also beginning November 1, TVs that meet EPA’s newer, more comprehensive specifications will be in stores and ready for green-minded consumers.
So, which TVs are getting new labels?
With the switch to digital and many Americans buying new TVs to accommodate the change, having more stringent requirements and information for buying decisions is good news.
Televisions that meet the new Energy Star specification will be up to 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. If all televisions sold in the United States met the new Energy Star requirements, the savings in energy costs would grow to be about $1 billion annually and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of about 1 million cars.
Consumers can check out Energy Star’s website and search for models that meet the new standards. There is also a downloadable Excel sheet with models listed that is current as of October 29th.
Consumers are also encouraged to ask sales associates for which models are newly qualified so that they are sure to get the most efficient models.
Via Press Release
More on Energy Efficient TVs:
Energy Star Getting Tougher on TVs, Tests Them When Turned On
Mitsubishi LaserVue TV: Best Image for Least Energy
Philips and Starwood Green Up Hotel TVs
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That's great that they're going to help out the consumers by labeling which products are energy efficient. I wonder if they'll be able to track the results, to see if this actually helped on a marketing/sales standpoint.
This is great news! I'm going to immediately hurl my 2 big-screen plasma TVs into the dumpster and replace them with these greener models. We must all do our part to save the Earth.
Sorry if this is too cynical, but from experience I suggest: yes, ask sales reps., but not because you can expect to get good information on energy use (or anything else technical), but because it's important to let them know that consumers care about energy use. To find out the real information, check the mfr's web site, check the energy use details in the .xls file on the energy star web site, or (best, both for finding out the real numbers and for educating the sales staff) bring a kill-a-watt meter with you to the store.
I'm not sure more energy efficient televisions will do much to fend off the climate catastrophe that awaits us. At least, not nearly as much as getting people to watch less TV.
TV news coverage oversimplifies and downplays real issues of vital world importance while up-playing (?) issues that entertain. I don't want to deny people the pleasure of watching a good movie or comedy show on a nice TV screen, but with Greenland and the polar ice caps melting, and methane bubbling up from ocean clathrates and arctic permafost by the megaton, is an energy efficient television going to help, or just make people feel more virtuous watching TV and not taking serious action to cut their energy use?
The most efficient TV is one that stays off. Maybe in addition to the ENERGY STAR labels we could have warnings, similar to those on cigarette packages, warning of how watching television can be harmful to the planet's health.