Save Energy While Watching Movies

It’s a rainy weekend and the family decides to watch movies at home. To save on power, which viewer should the family used, the old laptop or the TV/DVD player?

Energy-conscious families will choose the laptop as the TV/DVD player will use at least twice as much power. Depending on the screen size, the old cathode ray tube TV uses between 70 to 200W and the DVD player will add another 10 or so watts. Laptops, on the other hand, vary in energy efficiency from about 20 to 40 W. Most of energy goes into running the CPU and lighting up the screen, with only a few watts of power going into spinning and reading the DVD itself. This means that even if you had a smaller screen old TV and an inefficient laptop, the laptop comes out way out ahead when it comes to saving power.

However, your family can still save energy even when watching movies on TV/DVD. All it takes is simple mathematics. If the difference in energy expenditure is some 100-2000 watts per hour, look for other appliances you can switch off or replace. For instance, switching a few lamps may save 20 watts. Instead of using air-conditioner, try the electric fan. Also, try watching when it’s a bit cool- and not during the hottest time of the day.

Energy (and Earth) Saving Tip

Whenever your family buys new appliances, go for the most energy efficient-model. And when it comes to buying LCD television, there are two ratings you should be on the lookout for: the On Mode Power rating and the Standby Mode. On Mode is very easy to locater anywhere in the cover of the TV set or the manual. This tells you the energy consumption when the TV is turned on. The Standby Mode is more difficult to find as not all TV makers indicate it. Whenever you put the TV on standby, it still consumes energy. The typical amount of energy it uses every hour on Standby Mode ranges from 0.3-0.9 watts.

Source: Sci-Tech Volume XXII Number 4 ISSN 0116-5704 Sy 2008-2009