Set Top Boxes Set to Consume more Energy than Air Conditioning

Those little boxes that connect you to the world of cable TV and allow you to record your favourite shows could be eating up a lot more electricity than you think. The latest ‘set-top boxes’, together with high-definition TV sets and high-tech digital video recorders (DVRs), have been shown to consume more power than some new refrigerators and central air-conditioning systems, according to a new study by the US Natural Resources Defence Council, with some typical home entertainment configurations the single largest electricity drain in many American homes.

New York Times and  Straits Times, (27June 2011):

US study finds they use more power than some fridges, central air-con

NEW YORK: Those little boxes that connect you to the world of cable TV and allow you to record your favourite shows could be eating up a lot more electricity than you think. In the United States, the latest ‘set-top boxes’, together with high-definition TV sets and high-tech digital video recorders (DVRs), have been shown to consume more power than some new refrigerators and central air-conditioning systems. According to a new study by the US Natural Resources Defence Council, some typical home entertainment configurations have become the single largest electricity drain in many American homes.

This is because many homes have multiple cable boxes for different providers, with add-on DVRs. The study shows that a DVR and a cable box made for high-definition TV use an average of 446 kilowatt hours (kwh) a year – about 10 per cent more than a 0.6 cubic m energy-efficient refrigerator. The set-top boxes and DVRs are energy hogs mostly because their hard disk drives, tuners and other components are generally running full tilt, or nearly so, 24 hours a day even when not in active use.

So, while these devices have lower power ratings than, say, the air-conditioner or a ceiling fan, they draw more power per year because they are always left on. The study concluded that the boxes consumed US$3 billion (S$3.7 billion) in electricity per year in the US – 66 per cent of which is wasted because no one is watching and shows are not being recorded.

There are about 160 million set-top boxes in the US, or one for every two people. The study is likely to focus attention on the design of set-top boxes, and raise pressure on manufacturers as well as media providers to cut the energy consumption of these devices. ‘People in the energy-efficiency community worry a lot about these boxes, since they will make it more difficult to lower home energy use,’ said Mr John Wilson of the Energy Foundation, a partnership of foundations that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy.

‘Companies say it can’t be done, or it’s too expensive. But in my experience, neither one is true. It can be done, and it often doesn’t cost much, if anything.’ One simple solution is to have these devices switch off or draw less power when they are not needed. Analysts note that the perpetually ‘powered on’ state of set-top boxes is largely a function of design and programming choices made by electronics companies and cable and Internet providers.

Cable boxes are generally not designed to be turned completely off, as programme schedules and other information have to be downloaded even when they are not being actively used. But the Natural Resources Defence Council noted in its report that pressing the so-called power button on many set-top boxes to put them into ‘standby’ mode has minimal impact on power consumption.

‘Box manufacturers and pay-TV system operators maintain that set-top boxes need to remain operational even when the user presses the ‘off’ button because they need to stay connected to the network to receive programme guide and software updates,’ the report noted.

‘This means that in most set-top boxes, the difference between ‘on’ and ‘off’ power may just be a watt or two.’ In some European countries, set-top boxes can not only automatically go into standby mode when not in use, but also enter an optional ‘deep sleep’, reducing energy consumption by about 95 per cent.

Some device manufacturers say that some media providers in the US do not take advantage of these reduced energy options because of worries that the lowest energy states could disrupt service. Cable companies counter that customers will not tolerate the time it takes to reboot the system once the system has been shut down or put to sleep.

Energy-efficiency experts say, however, that technical fixes could eliminate or minimise the waiting time. Pace, a British manufacturer, makes set-top boxes that use less power while not in active use, and says that energy consumption can be cut by remotely adjusting software over a cable.

Pace engineer Robert Turner believes that the biggest challenge could be maintaining the rapid response time that users now expect of home entertainment systems. ‘People are used to the idea that computers take some time to boot up,’ he said, ‘but they expect the TV to turn on instantly.’

Source: www.ytlcommunity.com