Energy consumption: Which television consumes the most electricity?

Crime, drama, comedy – the television program offers the right entertainment for every mood. To ensure that you don’t have more electricity costs than absolutely necessary during a relaxed evening in front of the TV, you should pay attention to its technology and energy efficiency class when you buy your television – and to the new EU energy label.

Two different types of TV sets are currently providing entertainment in the living room: conventional LCD/LED TVs and OLED TVs. Unlike in the past, tube and plasma TVs no longer play a role today. Anyone who still owns one has a real power guzzler in their living room.

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In general, the energy consumption of televisions depends on several factors, such as the resolution and HDR support. Basically, the higher the resolution and the stronger the HDR effect, the more energy the TV needs. The following guide values ​​apply for 1,000 operating hours:

• At 50 to 55 inches: Low consumption is around 60 kilowatt hours – around 18 euros a year.
• At 65 inches: Low consumption is around 80 kilowatt hours – around 24 euros a year.

OLED TVs are considered, at least in theory, to be particularly energy-efficient – and perform better in this category than LCD and QLED TVs, for example. In practice, however, LCDs and OLEDs are often on the same level because the default brightness for OLED devices is usually very high.

Hidden energy thieves in TV sets

Not only the technology, but also the size of the display determines the power consumption during operation. Big screens draw more power than small ones. Because: With the size of the screen diagonal, the screen area increases and the necessary background lighting also increases. With a double diagonal, not only does the size of the screen surface quadruple, but also the energy requirement. In addition, energy-intensive extras such as several powerful loudspeakers contribute to a crisp electricity bill.

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Energy efficiency class as savings guarantee

Almost all household appliances must be assigned an energy efficiency class according to their power consumption. Until February 2021, the scale for televisions ranged from energy efficiency class A+ for very economical devices to energy efficiency class F for inefficient devices with very high energy requirements. However, a new EU energy label was introduced on March 1, 2021, the scale of which only ranges from A to G.

In addition, the new EU energy label 2021 contains the following energy-related information:

• A QR code that leads to an EU product database and provides additional information about the TV.
• The efficiency class of the TV.
• The energy consumption in kWh per 1,000 hours of use.
• Separate indication of energy consumption with and without HDR.
• Visible display diagonal in centimeters and inches as well as resolution in pixels.

In addition to the energy label, which every company must label its television before it is sold, the manual that comes with it also provides information about the energy consumption of the TV set. Here you will usually find two different measurement bases: the consumption of the device in stand-by mode and the consumption of the device during operation.

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Compare TV sets correctly

In order to be able to compare the power consumption of different models when buying a television, you should make sure that they have the same screen diagonal. The following rule of thumb applies as a guide for choosing the right screen size: multiply the screen diagonal by three the optimal seat distance – i.e. the distance between the couch and the place where you want to set up the new television. Other comparison criteria are the kWh consumption per year and the power consumption of the television.

summary

1. Currently there are mainly LCD/LED and OLED TVs.
2. CRT televisions consume the most electricity, while plasma televisions and LCD/LED screens with the same screen size consume more energy – but both device categories are no longer sold in stores.
3. The power consumption of the device increases with the size of the screen diagonal.
4. The energy efficiency scale for televisions ranges from energy efficiency class A for very economical devices to energy efficiency class G.
5. In order to be able to compare the power consumption of different models when buying a television, they must have the same screen size.