Power Hungry Set Top Boxes to be Regulated?

The Energy Department is considering to place new restrictions on the energy consumption of set top cable boxes and digital recorders. This would be similar to regulations that dramatically improved the efficiency of refrigerators. The announcement comes after the National Resource Defense Council published a new study of the usage of set top boxes. Their results are fairly staggering, and it shows how targeting set top boxes can make a big impact to both our energy costs and the environment.

Like a refrigerator, the television set top box is generally running at full power 24 hours a day. When the television is off and nothing is recording, these devices will still operate at a similar energy demand. Two-thirds of their demand for power comes when the consumer is not using the device. Since the companies who are supplying these boxes do not pay for the electricity, there is little incentive for them to invest in changing their products.

According to the NRDC study:

In 2010, set-top boxes in the United States consumed approximately 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of nine average (500 MW) coal-fired power plants. The electricity required to operate all U.S. boxes is equal to the annual household electricity consumption of the entire state of Maryland, results in 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and costs households more than $3 billion each year.

The NRDC study has also proposed some solutions and picked out the worst types of set top boxes. In some cases they have a greater energy demand than a new energy efficient refrigerators and 42" LCD HDTVs.

Check out the very informative, 5-page study here: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/files/settopboxes.pdf