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Kyle Schee11/5/12 12:00 AM1 min read

How buying the right TV will save $1.34 billion in annual energy costs

In this day and age of technological innovation, you would think that televisions of the same size and type would have a similar power consumption. All TVs are definitely not made equal, in fact it is quite the opposite. LED TVs are usually at least 20 to 25% more efficient than LCDs or Plasmas.

Taking 37 inch TVs (average size sold in 2012) as an example, there is a surprising 400% difference in energy usage between the most and least efficient models. And when you consider that approximately 40 million new TVs will be purchased in 2012, there is potential to save 11.2 billion kWh of electricity and $1.34 billion dollars in annual electricity costs by choosing the most efficient model.

Taking a Million Households Off the Grid

Since it’s difficult to grasp what 11.2 billion kWh actually means, let’s convert that into people. Using the EIA’s average consumption benchmark, this translates into 996,454 households worth of energy that could be saved by choosing the more energy efficient 37 inch TV. When you think about it, this would be the same as taking the cities of Boston and San Francisco off the grid. And in terms of reducing CO2 emissions, it would be comparable to removing 1.5 million passenger cars from the road.

This scale and impact of simple purchase decisions, led us to create the Enervee Score which we like to think of as the MPG (miles per gallon) rating for electronics and appliances. And the best part is that by choosing TVs with a higher Enervee Score you can save money and save the planet at the same time without making sacrifices on the latest product features.

Score my TV

To help you figure out if it's the right time to upgrade your TV, just visit enervee.com and search for your model number to check the Enervee Score. You can also find more efficient models and see if they qualify for a rebate from your utility.

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