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Question: I’m in the market for a new television.  I want to be ready for next year when analog phases out and digital takes over.   I also want to make sure I am “green” and not going overboard on price.  There is such a smorgasbord of options that it is difficult to know what to buy.  Can you offer some suggestions?

 

            - I can’t see clearly now –

Answer: Now here’s a class they should offer in school: TV Basics 101.   Buying a television these days is incredibly confusing with so many new technologies available.  So where does that leave you?  In a TV quagmire, bogging buyers down with giant TVs never imagined by the average household and by choices, such as flat plasma, high-definition TVs (HDTVs), digital, liquid crystal display (LCD) and cathode ray tubes (CRTs). These acronyms are enough to blur my vision.

 

With regards to energy use, LCD TVs beat out plasma and traditional CRT models.  Plasma TVs use 30 percent more energy than the same size LCD version, while a CRT utilizes three times more energy than a same-sized LCD model.

 

Of course, nothing is black and white anymore (not even your television).  A large screen LCD can offset any energy savings it might have over a smaller CRT.  Although an LCD is more efficient, square inch for square inch, a 42-inch LCD actually uses 20 percent more energy than a 20-inch CRT.

 

TVs in the United States consume about 47 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, or about 1 percent of the nation’s entire electricity production. That’s enough energy to power all of Hong Kong for 18 months.  Whew!

 

While savings accruing from a more energy-efficient TV may not chop much off your energy bill each year, those savings add up over the lifetime of a TV.  More efficient electronics also contribute to the health of our environment.  If every power supplier were 90 percent efficient versus the norm of 50 percent, consumers could collectively prevent four million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

 

You can also help cut your energy bill and greenhouse gas emissions by unplugging your TV when it’s not in use.  Standby mode consumes 10 to 23 percent of a TV’s energy use–a hefty diet of electricity.  I wonder if that’s fattening.

 

Don’t worry too much about the demise of analog next February.  If you already get your programming via cable or satellite, nothing will change.  If not, you can purchase a digital-to-analog converter for much less than a new TV.  The government is offering up to two, $40 coupons to defray the cost of converter boxes (visit.www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html).

 

But if you feel it’s time to move up a notch in TV technology, I recommend an ENERGY STAR®-qualified LCD flat screen.  (In fact, make all of your home electronic purchases ENERGY STAR.)  Your tax rebate this year should pay for a big chunk of it; however, buyer, beware.  Once you put a big screen TV in your living room, watch out for self-invited neighbors who want to enjoy a baseball game or the newest reality show–upping the energy ante.  Add a few energy-eating TV peripherals, and you might just be competing with the refrigerator for power.

 

The Sierra Club has put together a “Green Screen” test to see how much you know about today’s TV technologies.  If you would like to see how sharp your insight is, go to www.sierraclub.org/howgreen/screen.